₦airaland Forum

Boko Haram Denies Ceasefire Deal with FG – Shehu Sani
FEATUREDNEWSOct 17, 2014


Human right activist, Shehu Sani has said that Boko Haram contact have denied knowledge of any ceasefire deal with the Nigerian government.

The Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh, an Air Chief Marshal, announced the ceasefire deal Friday and ordered all field officers to comply with the agreement.

VOA reports that the sect spokesman identified as Danladi Ahmadu and the Principal Secretary to the President Goodluck Jonathan, Hassana Tukur, as well as a representative of the Chadian governmentreached the deal at a meeting in Chad.

But Mr. Sani, known for their access to the Boko Haram group said the sect has denied knowing any Mr. Ahmadu as their representative.

“All my attempts to confirm the ceasefire deal did not produce any result. My sources are telling me that they don’t know who that person is,” Mr. Sani said.

He also said for Boko Haram to reach any ceasefire, such information must come from the leader of the group.

“Any statement that is not coming from the leader of the group cannot be said to be credible and will not be complied with by the group members,” he said.

Obviously referring to Abubakar Shekau whom the Nigerian Armed forces said is dead, Mr. Sani said “the leader is the only person they respect and listen to”

Similar, A Nigerian journalist, who have been involved in several negotiations with extremist sect, have expressed doubt over the claims by the Nigerian military that it has reached a ceasefire with Boko Haram.

Mr. Salkida took to his twitter handle on Frida to express doubts over the ceasefire deal.

Mr. Salkida expressed doubts about the deal with Boko Haram in several tweets Friday.

I guess Nigerians r tired & at such, any news tht offers respite on this protracted war between Nigeria & #BokoHaram is alwys welcomed. 1/6

— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) October 17, 2014

Sadly anybody tht demised such good news becomes Nigeria’s enemy. But d leadership of #BH r said to be miffed tht a nation of d profile 2/6

— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) October 17, 2014

and magnitude of Nigeria, wt high level of intelligent pple is being easily encased in deceit & nobody seems to be askng tough questns. 3/6

— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) October 17, 2014

What is most worrying here is, govt at d highest level & d intelligence formations in #Nigeria has embraced this ‘good news,’ 4/6

— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) October 17, 2014

this shows lack of understnding of d reality tht this is an ideology tht can only be neutralised after long hardwork tht is yet to start 5/6

— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) October 17, 2014

this shows lack of understnding of d reality tht this is an ideology tht can only be neutralised after long hardwork tht is yet to start 5/6

— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) October 17, 2014

It also appears that govt is more interested in shadows and bubbles, than in substance and clear headed engagement wt d #BH ideology 6/6

— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) October 17, 2014

May God help #Nigeria

— Ahmad Salkida (@ContactSalkida) October 17, 2014

In the same vein, another source who seem to have intels on the Boko Haram insurgents group, Mr Muktar Dan’iyar has said there is no deal between the Boko Haram sect and the Nigerian govt.

“There are NO Boko Haram factions. The Boko Haram, the one led by Abubakar Shekau has not been in any negotiations nor has it signed any cease fire agreement with anybody. There are no girls being prepped for release as of now,” Mr. Dan’iyar said.

I was discussing about Jaguar with a friend some few days ago and how we missed his kind of comedy!

A wonderful comedian and actor!

May the help of The Lord reach you wherever you are!

My condolences!

By Ivana Kottasova, CNN


For the second year in row, Apple has topped Google as the world's most valuable brand.

The two are the only brands to be valued at more than $100 billion, according to the annual Best Global Brands report.

The ranking, compiled by Interbrand consultancy, considers three main criteria. Besides the financial performance of branded products, it also looks at how the brand influences customer choice, and whether it can push up the price of a product.


Valued at $118.9 billion, Apple increased its value by 21% year-on-year, while Google's brand value of $107.43 billion jumped 15% compared to last year.

"Apple and Google's meteoric rise to more than $100 billion is truly a testament to the power of brand building," according to Jez Frampton, Interbrand's CEO.

Tech companies are heavily represented in the ranking with IBM (4), Microsoft (5) and Samsung (8] in the top 10.

The ranking is also a good news for the car industry, as four automobile companies -- Toyota (8], Mercedes-Benz (10), BMW (11), and Honda (20) -- all made in into the top 20. Three other carmakers were among the top rising brands. Audi's brand value increased 27%, while Volkswagen and Nissan both saw a boost of 23%.

But Facebook was the ranking's top riser, gaining 86% in brand value and jumping 33 spots to number 29. Facebook has grown again last year, with the number of monthly active users at 1.32 billion, up 14% year-over-year. It's $2.91 billion revenues in second quarter smashed expectations, growing 61% compared to last year.

Among the ranking's newbies are DHL (81), Land Rover (91), FedEx (92), Hugo Boss (97), and Huawei (94).

By joining the elite club, the Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei became the first company to represent China in the ranking. The third largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, behind Samsung and Apple, reported a 34.4% net profit increase to $3.38 billion in 2013.



http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/09/business/most-valuable-brands/index.html?hpt=hp_c5

As the people of Adamawa State fret over Saturday’s by-election for the state governorship, the chief of defence staff (CDS) Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh has ordered the troops to flush out the terrorists rampaging the state to ensure that the election holds in every local government.

Adamawa is one of the three states where the terrorists have been killing, maiming and destroying life and property. The other two states are Borno and Yobe.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled the by-election for next Saturday to replace the impeached former governor the state, Murtala Nyako, but the terrorists have had a stronghold in some of the major town, a factor that constitutes a threat to the election. However, the military leadership has assured INEC that the poll would be held without any hitches.

Military sources have attributed the recent successes recorded by the troops in Adamawa State to the order given by the defence chief, Air Chief Marshal Badeh, to the chief of army staff (COAS) Lt-Gen Kenneth Minimah and chief of air staff (CAS) Air Marshal Adesola Amosu to flush out all terrorist from the state before the weekend to allow INEC to conduct a violence-free election.

‘‘It is true our troops have been doing a yeoman’s job in the northeast, especially in Adamawa State. Kudos should be given to the CDS who asked the COAS and CAS to intensify actions to ensure the coming governorship poll holds in Adamawa and the order also covers the other two states because of the February election.

“This is why you see our troops killing those terrorists in hundreds daily. They are many, that is true, but they cannot withstand our fire power. The air troops and the ground troops are synergizing and that is the result of the successes that you see. The two chiefs are always on the move to ensure continuing success of the troops. You cannot know whether CAS and COAS are operating in Abuja or from Yola/Maiduguri axis,” a source disclosed.

Corroborating him, another security source said there is an ongoing battle in the areas that the terrorists used to operate and many of them are being killed while many are also surrendering to the troops.

“The battle that liberated Michika and Gulak and other communities in that axis was a fierce one because those criminals did not want to give up, but when they saw the firepower both from the air and on the ground, they fled and our troops pursued them. The good news is (that) the war against the terrorists is almost over, God willing.”

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) will hold a grand rally for the Saturday’s poll today in Yola, the state capital, and all the chieftains of the party from every state of the federation are expected to be there.

Adamawa is the home state of a leading presidential aspirant of the party, former vice president Atiku Abubakar, and the party’s national vice chairman, North East, Engineer B. D. Lawal. Both are expected to lead the party in the quest to reclaim the state.

Although the party belonged to the PDP until the defection of the then governor, Nyako, to the APC after the controversial PDP convention held in Abuja, the PDP regained the state through his impeachment.

“Adamawa State is a stronghold of the APC; they used an illegal process called impeachment to steal the state from us and, this weekend, our people are ready to free the state from the PDP. I can assure you that we are getting the state back. APC belongs to Adamawa and Adamawa belongs to APC,” Lawal told our correspondent yesterday.

 

Insurgency: Adamawa Guber Election Will Hold As Scheduled- INEC

The fierce battle between the military and insurgents in some parts of Adamawa State will not derail Saturday’s governorship by-election in Adamawa State, INEC said yesterday.

However, there are strong indications that elections might not be held in two local government areas, Madagali and Michika, where troops are trying to remove Boko Haram insurgents who had held sway here in the last few weeks.

On Monday, the military said about 71 members of the sect were killed.

Alongside Madagali and Michika, INEC last week identified 11 other local government areas as vulnerable to “constant state of fear, insurgency, thuggery, violence and ballot box snatching.”

INEC specifically mentioned Maha, Mubi North and South local government areas are being adversely affected by the activities of the sect.

However, the INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, is already in Yola, the state capital, to assess the situation.

But responding to an inquiry by LEADERSHIP whether or not the election will continue as planned in the face of insecurity, Jega’s chief press secretary, Kayode Idowu, who is also in Yola, said “as we speak now, no area is exempt from the election, which will hold as scheduled.”

Responding to a question over whether election will hold in Madagali and Michika, he said: “I can’t confirm whether or not elections will be postponed in the two local governments yet, but anywhere security is not guaranteed, we will not endanger voters. We will not have elections anywhere it is not practicable to have elections in accordance with the constitution and the law.”

On whether cancellation of elections in the two local governments will affect the results, he said: “Anything can affect the result of the election, but we cannot determine that until after the election; the constitution is clear on this‎.”

Meanwhile, seven political parties and their candidates have been cleared to participate in the election, while a total of 1.5 million registered voters are expected to cast their votes in 2,609 polling units in the state.

The commission is expected to move sensitive and non-sensitive materials for the election to the state before Friday.

 

Thousands of refugees stranded at Yola Govt House

…as relief materials were diverted to PDP secretariat

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Adamawa State are going through hell as some   of the relief material sent by the federal government through the Special Presidential Committee on Relief have allegedly been diverting them to individuals and organizations in the state.

Two trailer loads of relief materials meant for the IDPs were diverted to the PDP secretariat, sparking a protest with the IDPs telling the acting governor that the materials had been cornered by individuals.

Investigation has unravelled that the relief materials were shared to unions, individuals and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members contrary to the directive of President Goodluck Jonathan who had warned that the items should be strictly given to the affected persons.

Meanwhile, the IDPs from Michika and Madagali who were invited to attend a meeting with acting Governor Umaru Fintiri said they were left stranded and hungry for many hours at Government House, Yola.

The acting governor hails from Madagali local government which was seized for close to a month by insurgents who killed many residents and displaced thousands others.

Ahead of the Saturday by-election, the acting governor had asked all the displaced people from Michika and Madagali to assemble at the Government House for a meeting.

About 10,000 of the IDPs, including the aged, children and women all converged on Government House thinking that part of the relief materials would be shared to them only for them to observe that the meeting was a political gimmick to woo them to vote for the ruling party in Saturday’s gubernatorial by election.

Most of them expressed dismay at the lackadaisical attitude of the government which deemed it fit to keep them throughout the day without food, water or transport fare to go back home only to be told to go and vote on election day.

While delivering his speech during the occasion, the acting governor was heckled when he mentioned that the relief materials had been shared among the IDPs. They were said to have told the acting governor that they had received nothing as relief materials, and that they did not have confidence in the committee set up to distribute the materials.

Some of the angry IDPs tried to gain access to the council chambers but were prevented by stern-looking security operatives.

An IDP who complained that he was left stranded despite walking long hours to the Government House wondered what would happen when the acting governor became the substantive governor if he could treat like this.

 

Boko Haram: Omeri Appeals To Sponsors To Surrender

The coordinator of the National Information Centre, Mr Mike Omeri, has appealed to sponsors and agents of the Boko Haram insurgency and terrorism in the country to see the wisdom of abandoning the fight against citizens by immediately surrendering to the security forces.

In a statement made available to newsmen yesterday in Abuja, Omeri asked them to follow the example of others in Konduga.

“They should know that this war can never be won by them,” he said while reinforcing government greater interest in the rescue of all persons and communities that are being traumatized by the insurgency.

Omeri assured Nigerians that concerted efforts are being marshalled to ensure a return to normalcy in the affected communities.

He also commended Nigerians for their steadfast support and cooperation with the security forces which had helped to ensure the successes so far recorded in the campaign to defeat terrorism and end insurgency in the country.

“Although there was intense fighting in parts of Adamawa, especially in Michika and Bazza, among other areas, it must be noted that the military action in the north east to flush out insurgents is going on according to operational plans, and the security forces have been recording tremendous gains in recent weeks.

“As part of the security measures, we continue to enjoin Nigerians to report suspicious persons and movements to nearby security agencies or simply send sms to 112 , a security code meant to pass information to the security forces” he said.

My sincere "wish" is to have both in a wife!

So help me Lord!

Our Creator is an ever loving CREATOR! The "Only Giver" of all good things!

As for life after death, I am fully prepared to live and continue my life over "there" in the "World Beyond"!

I sincerely pray for the Help of The Lord when the "hour" is "right" for me to "transit" into the great Beyond!

Shalom!

tomsniel: i am not suprised. In Nigeria arithmetic is the reverse. In Nigeria, 1 is greater than 5 sef.

Sounds funny but true! This "anomaly" is the major cause of our problem(s) as a Nation!

princealbashir: On which side of the divide are you?

I'm not so 'particular' about which side I "rep"! All I'm concerned about according to the above "Article" is: "Equity", "Fairness" and "Justice"!

Simple!

Who believes the lie that there are more people in the North than in the South?

By Femi Aribisala

In 2011, more votes were cast in Zamfara than the total number of legitimately-registered voters, according to the revelation of INEC’s clean-up exercise.

Everything turns upside down in Nigeria. Logic becomes illogical. Wisdom becomes foolishness. Two plus two becomes seven. Hospitals become mortuaries. Stealing is not corruption. Education is a sin. In Nigeria, so many things fly in the face of simple commonsense.

One major example is the ridiculous idea that, by some inexplicable freak of nature, more people live in the arid less-developed Northern part of Nigeria than in the wet, coastal, more-developed South.

Insult to intelligence

The larger population of the North is an elephant in the Nigerian living-room. According to the last disputed census of 2006, there are 75 million Nigerians living in the North and 65 million in the South. This is balderdash! As long as we continue to accept such blatant lie, there can be no true democracy in Nigeria. Electoral results must continue to be falsified to conform to it. As long as we continue to entertain such outright falsehood, we shall continue to be subjected to a “born to rule” mentality on the part of some mischievous Northern politicians.

The assertion that there are more people in the North than in the South is an insult to intelligence and commonsense. All over West Africa, the coastal states are more densely and highly populated than the arid desert hinterlands. Nobody has been able to come up with a reasonable reason why Nigeria would be the only exception to this rule. Most of the people in Egypt live on a strip along the Nile River. But in Nigeria, we are meant to believe most of the people live in the desert.

Some make the case that Northern polygamy leads to more births. If so, why are there only 30 million people in Saudi Arabia, a country more than twice the size of Nigeria? The Saudis are also polygamous. If there are so many more live-births in the North than in the South, this should be reflected in children immunization programs: but it is not.

Everything we know about demographics contradicts the inflated population of the North relative to the South. The economic opportunities in the South far outweigh those in the North. That means economic migration is bound to be southward and not northward. The states with the highest internally generated revenues all come from the South; while eight of the last ten are from the North. No Northern state features in the top ten.

Mythical Kano

The North regularly trots up Kano as the largest state of the federation, but there is no doubt that this is also pure fiction. There is no way that there can be more people in Kano State than in Lagos State or even Oyo State. Let me be even more categorical. Kano cannot be as populous as Ibadan. Kano cannot even have half the population of Lagos.

We were told Kano State was bigger in population than Lagos State. Then Jigawa State was carved out of Kano in 1991. But lo and behold, the remaining rump of Kano was still bigger than Lagos. In 1991, we were told there were 5.8 million people in Kano State, while 5.7 million were in Lagos. In 2006, Kano was awarded a population of 9.4 million; more than Lagos which was given 9.1 million.

In the meantime, Jigawa was awarded 4.3 million people in 2006. If this were to be believed, it would mean Kano (including Jigawa) had outpaced Lagos by more than four million people by 2006. That is impossible. Moreover, Kano was awarded 44 local government areas; Jigawa 27 and Lagos only 20.

Why any right-thinking person would believe Kano State has more people than Lagos State is beyond me. For years, the total amount of internally generated revenue in Kano was less than 6 billion naira a year. In the last year or so, it is now averaging 20 billion. But get this: the internally generated revenue in Lagos is 219 billion naira. So why would people be moving to Kano instead of Lagos? Where are the jobs in Kano to attract them relative to Lagos?

Why would more people keep moving to Kano where there is insurgency; from Maitasine to Boko Haram, relative to Lagos where there is none? The answer is simple. The large population of Kano relative to Lagos is bogus. It is pure fiction! If there were more people in Kano than in Lagos, it would show up, for example, in waste-generation. How much waste does Kano produce relative to Lagos? The answer is only a fraction.

How many houses and physical structures are there in Kano relative to Lagos? There is no comparison. Google satellite maps show a concentration of people and houses in Kano city centre. Everywhere else is sparsely populated. This is not the case with Lagos. It is not the case with Ibadan. It is not the case with Aba. If there are so many people up North, where are the people? Where do they live? Which vehicles take them from A to B? How many of these vehicles are in Kano relative to Lagos? Only a fraction!

Magical Zamfara

Precisely because we have accepted the lie of Northern population supremacy over the South, Attahiru Jega and his INEC cohorts decided to sneak further falsehood past us. Having discovered far more double-registration of voters in the North than in the South, INEC still went ahead to create additional polling units, allocating a disproportionate number of these to the North. However, the very audacity of INEC in the attempted perpetration of this fraud has brought to light certain anomalies in the 2011 elections, especially as it relates to the North-West.

INEC’s recent cleanup exercise of the voters register is a big indictment of the North. INEC discovered that there are far more double-registration of voters in the North than in the South. The greatest fraud in this regard is committed in the North-West, and the most fraudulent state in the country turns out to be Zamfara.

Sokoto and Zamfara states border the Republic of Niger. Niger Republic is 19 times bigger than Sokoto and Zamfara put together in land area. And yet, we are meant to believe that in 2006, Sokoto and Zamfara had a combined total population of 6.9 million; more than half of Niger Republic’s population of 12.9 million.

Zamfara’s fictitious population in the 2006 census was 3.2 million. Nevertheless, INEC registered 2 million voters for Zamfara for the 2011 elections. That means 62.5% of the people in Zamfara registered to vote. (This is roughly equal to the 64% of people who registered to vote in the 2012 elections in the United States; a country of far higher voter-awareness and socialisation). This is fraud of the highest order for the simple reason that 62.5% of the population of Zamfara cannot be eligible to vote.

The voting age in Nigeria is 18 years. According to U.N. demographics, 44% of Nigerians are below the age of 15. This means under no circumstances can 50% of the population anywhere in Nigeria be said to have registered to vote in any election. It is not surprising therefore that although INEC registered 2 million voters for the 2011 elections in Zamfara, the same INEC discovered in its clean-up exercise this year that 1.1 million of those voters (over 50%) were fraudulent; the result of double registration.

Voodoo results

That means only 914,886 of the names on the Zamfara register could be verified as not pertaining to double registration. (This does not tell us how many of the remaining names are fictitious). But then get this: according to INEC records, 927,219 people voted in Zamfara in the 2011 presidential election; mostly for Buhari. That means more votes were cast in Zamfara than the total number of legitimately-registered voters, according to the revelation of INEC’s clean-up exercise.

Let us put this in stark terms. It means, according to INEC, over 100% of the Zamfara electorate voted in 2011. What malarkey! By the time we factor in the fictitious names that must have been in the register, we can see that the figures coming out of Zamfara have nothing whatsoever to do with reality. In Zamfara, there is procedural inflation of figures pertaining to population and elections.

This gives us an idea of how fraudulent the North-West of Nigeria is with regard to population and electoral figures. This is not to say that manipulation and falsification of figures is not standard operational procedure in other states of the federation, but INEC revealed that it is most exaggerated in the North in general and in the North-West in particular.

It is not surprising therefore that, in the 2011 presidential election, there were 10.6 million “voters” from the North-West alone; twice the number of voters from either the South-West (4.6 million) or the South-East (5 million). This is preposterous, and is nothing but one big lie!

Back to Jega

It is on this fictitious super-structure of a larger population in the North relative to the South that Jega’s INEC based its outrageous allocation of 21,000 additional polling booths to the North, relative to 8,000 to the South.

In defense of this regional-chauvinism, Hakeem Baba-Ahmad added insult to injury by saying: “Jega admitted that many states in the south did not even deserve the number of units they got, but for the inclusion of the principle of fairness and equity. In other words, if INEC had been strict in sharing out the units in accordance with voting population and geography, the north would have received even more.” What poppycock!

In what appears to be the triumph of commonsense and logic, the Senate has advised Jega to suspend the allocation of new polling units until after the 2015 general elections. That should be the end of the matter. People who don’t understand how the Nigerian political system works feel Jega can ignore this advice. He cannot! The legislative branch of the government has oversight powers over the executive branch. Such a directive from the legislature to an arm of the government is not subject to debate. It must be obeyed otherwise Jega will be sanctioned.



http://247nigerianewsupdate.co/who-believes-the-lie-that-there-are-more-people-in-the-north-than-in-the-south/

Aniebo Nwamu-

Boko Haram bombs may have been defused successfully in many parts of the country, but more deadly bombs are currently being planted in cities that matter in Nigeria. The bombs are made of very poor people who are desperate to stay alive. The cities of Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt have been the choice destinations of these wanderers each of which does not know where the next meal will come from.

A recent encounter I had with these impoverished folks has enabled me to understand the reason behind the arrest of 486 people in Aba as they were travelling from parts of the north to Port Harcourt in May this year. But since the Aba incident and the outcry that followed, no such case has been reported in other states. The truth, however, is that the mass movement of people from mainly the north-east and north-west to other areas has never really stopped. They may not be travelling in a convoy of 35 buses at 2am like those arrested and detained at 144 Battalion Barracks, Asa, Aba, but they still find their way to the cities.

During the screening of the Aba detainees, it was found that most of them had nothing in their pockets. That should be a pointer to the life they were going to lead. Of course, one trader could have claimed that he invited penniless people to live under shacks in Port Harcourt; what he wouldn’t admit was that he won’t be responsible for providing food and other needs for them.

Towns near Abuja like Suleja in Niger State and Masaka in Nasarawa State have become danger zones because of these desperately poor migrants. So have Dei-Dei, Nyanya and Karimo in the FCT. Many other towns on the outskirts of the capital city are endangered too. The FCT Administration once threatened to demolish every unoccupied building in the FCT. Nothing has happened; nothing will happen.

The country is so far gone that nobody cares about what happens to his neighbour. I wonder why almost every Nigerian university runs courses in Sociology, Psychology and other social sciences but no one seems to have given consideration to the threats to peace in places inhabited by unschooled, jobless, unskilled, penniless people. How does a young man survive in the city without N1 in his pocket and without hope of eating any meal in one week? I heard there is a local herb they chew that could ward off hunger for 48 hours.

From my experience and the experiences shared by other people, I know that these boys (and girls) start out as barrow pushers. Each hires a barrow on a daily basis at N100 and could make N800. Healthy-looking ones look for work as labourers at construction sites. From there, they move to petty trading or water vending. After some weeks or months, some graduate to motorcycle (achaba or okada) riding. And that is where the danger lies.

Since they were driven from the Abuja city centre, a few years ago, they have been wreaking havoc in the hinterlands. Training in okada riding lasts less than two hours. And, of course, the training does not include understanding road signs or any driving rule at all. It is not surprising, therefore, that these dangerous riders are killing people and getting killed every day in the streets of Abuja and Lagos.

An example: On the morning of Saturday, September 20, one of these urchins carried a pregnant woman straight to the tyre of a truck at Dei-Dei International Market. The trailer crushed the pregnant woman; the foetus spilled out! Bystanders said the cyclist disappeared, that is, with the aid of charms. The next day, on the Zuba-Kubwa expressway, another okada rider crossed over five lanes –illegally – to the spot he hit a vehicle with his passenger. Hundreds of okada riders in Dei-Dei soon assembled to shield the rider while the motorist that did nothing wrong was asked to take the wounded passenger to hospital. By the time the motorist came back from the police, the hoodlums were set to vandalise his vehicle. He had to “settle” the police, fuel the police van, pick the wounded man’s hospital bills and repair his own car. He soon learned that, in any case with okada, the motorist is always wrong! Acting as a mob, such hungry boys have at times killed motorists that dared knock down okada riding recklessly on the wrong lane.

At a market in Mararaba, last week also, a housewife carefully parked her vehicle at a corner. A boy selling sugar cane bumped onto the boot of the woman’s stationary vehicle and his sugar cane sticks fell. “Sorry boy,” the woman said in sympathy. Soon, a number of men speaking the same language gathered and asked the woman to pay for the sugar cane. When she wanted to explain that it was no fault of hers, one of them asked her why she said “sorry” if indeed it was not her fault. To avoid further exchange of words with the hungry-looking men, she paid the boy N700 and fled.

I have given a few examples to show how dangerously wicked these unschooled, unskilled people that troop to the cities could be. Needless to add, some of them are armed robbers. In fact, when they go for robbery, they are merciless: they could kill everyone and steal everything in the house and then disappear into their ghettos. Some are thieves or cattle rustlers. Some work with dangerous criminals like drug sellers. At accident scenes, they are the ones that rob corpses and wounded victims. No human sympathy!

A solution for these poor but dangerous urchins must be found quickly. For a start, the use of okada for commercial purposes in every Nigerian city should be abolished. It is better. The job is not even helping the young men. All orthopaedic hospitals are filled with okada riders and their victims. Many are in the mortuaries.

It is selfish to ban okada in areas where the rich live and allow them to ravage places where the middle class and the poor live. I know that motorcycle importers won’t let any such policy see the light of day, just as generator importers are said to frustrate power reforms. But government at the local and state levels must start working to sanitise our cities before everybody gets consumed. If commercial motorcyclists are sent packing from the cities, many of the young people may be forced to return to the farms in their home villages.

The urge to move to the city – where “things are happening” – is one that afflicts every young person. They hear stories of their mates making millions of naira just in the cities not knowing they do so by stealing, robbing or killing people. It’s not everybody that succeeds. Life is more difficult in the city than in the village, especially when one goes without money. And crime doesn’t pay. One day, the criminal will be caught, jailed or killed.

The people I’m talking about are now in their millions in Abuja. Millions of them also reside in Lagos, Onitsha, Aba, Port Harcourt, Kano, Kaduna and other cities. . They cannot read these words because they are unschooled. Those using them for terror activities should please pass the right message to them. Government has a responsibility to care for them. Where it can’t, they should be persuaded to seek greener pasture in their villages and not constitute a nuisance to city dwellers.

 

SOURCE: http://leadership.ng/columns/385397/desperately-poor-dangerously-wicked

It's just too "unfortunate"!

Good news!

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has exonerated the Nigerian military of any extra judicial killings, saying that it has begun probe into the report of Amnesty international which accused the Nigeria police and other security agencies of torture.

The Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Prof. Bem Angwe, stated this in Abuja yesterday while receiving the Regional representatives for West Africa Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human rights in his office.

According to the NHRC boss, the commission is already holding meetings with various security agencies in the country over the report, saying that the response which the commission has been getting since the probe was initiated has been positive.

He said, “We have not found any act of extra judicial killing by the military. When we come out with our report, we expect security agencies in the country to punish any indicted officer. The commission is still probing the allegation and after the probe, we will come out with a report. We will continue to ensure that the rights of Nigerians are respected”.


SOURCE: http://leadership.ng/news/385104/amnesty-report-nhrc-exonerates-nigerian-military-extra-judicial-killings

Elhakym1: Hey you've gotta be a handsome guy to av made such comment...true one.

True talk! Thanks bro!

Number seven (7) denotes perfection in Nature!

Nice one, Op!

True talk bro!

Maybe because some of them have suffered in the hand of ladies!

Maybe some are not inwardly matured, while some are too full of themselves!

But from personal experience, handsome guys tend to have so many "trust" issues with "ladies" compared to average looking guys!

kilokeys: hmmm. as in ehn.. very impressive..
how many dem come be sef? cos it would b relieving to know 5 percent or 10 percent of the total number of terrorists died that day

My dear brother, the "delete" operation continues until these demons are completely wiped out from the surface of the Earth!

God bless our Armed Forces!

The atmosphere in Maiduguri, the troubled capital of Borno State, was electric as thousands of residents went into wild jubilation following the defeat of the Boko Haram gunmen by soldiers of the Nigerian army in Konduga town, some 35km away. Abdulkareem Haruna reports 

Though the insurgents had up till Friday sustained attacks on Konduga, in their ultraconservative resilience to conquer the town, not less than 1,000 of their members were reportedly killed in the ongoing face-off, while the army continues to haul back to the barracks, caches of arms and ammunition recovered.

Before then, there had been palpable fears amongst residents who had been going to bed with both eyes opened, worrying that they could be attacked by the terrorists any moment soon.

After the fall of major towns like Gwoza, Bama, Gamboru-Ngala and Dhimankara in the past weeks, Maiduguri the capital city became the next possible target of the insurgents.

But before the terrorists would have their way into Maiduguri, they needed to capture one major town near it – Konduga. It is located on the southeast of the state capital on the road to Bama and Gwoza.

The Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau had in his last video message boasted of controlling most of the seized town even as one of his lieutenants, Abu Zinnira, had weeks later, boasted that more major towns and villages would be conquered by his group until Maiduguri falls unto their hands.

Having suffered series of embarrassing outings when its troops had to flee their posts as the rampaging terrorists came attacking and seizing a number of towns as wells as sacking defenseless residents, the army had for once decided to put its acts together to forestall any possible attack on Maiduguri that would cause it to fall under the control of the Boko Haram.

“If Maiduguri should fall, that would be the end of the entire northeast,” said a military officer, whose name cannot be mentioned due to military rules that enforce ban on unassigned officers speaking to the media.

“Maiduguri, whether we like it or not is the heartbeat of the northeast, and we know the target of the terrorists was to capture it just like they did in Bama, Gwoza and the rest; and by doing so, many other surrounding towns and villages may have been weakened, because everyone would be on the run. That was why we decided to do all that is necessary to avert such dreadful occurrence,” said the officer.

While the soldiers continued to hold their forte in Konduga after they had been chased out of Bama, Boko Haram gunmen sustained their offensive campaigns that inched them closer up to Kawuri, a town about 10km south of Konduga.

“We understood their tactics now, so we refused to advance towards Bama because by doing that we would have fallen into their ambush-traps which they had been planning for us”, said the soldier who spoke earlier.

LEADERSHIP Sunday was reliably informed that over 500 diehard soldiers of the Nigerian Army were deployed to Konduga with a special order to forestall all attempts of the insurgents to advance towards Maiduguri.

It was gathered that the acting General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division, Brigadier General Ibrahim, had personally maintained a direct communication link with the troops in Konduga, which had kept the soldiers in “high morale and combat spirit”. The soldiers also employed the services of some of the courageous operatives of the Civilian- JTF who functioned as scouts while the soldiers waited patiently in ambush. For effective tackling of the situation in Konduga, the 7 Division deployed the troops there to be commanded by a ranked Colonel and three crack Lieutenant Colonels of the Nigeria Army, who also continued to ensure that the troops conquered all perceived fears of the Boko Haram.

Some of the operatives of the Civilian- JTF were armed with binoculars provided by the soldiers and were able to climb elevated structures and installations from where they were able to observe the movement of the terrorists and pass credible information to the soldiers.

With that established synergy between the civilian vigilante and the soldiers, every movement of the advancing Boko Haram terrorists were carefully taken into consideration until they eventually arrived inside Konduga.

“They had been converging at a village near Kawuri; and most of them arrived from north, west and east of Konduga, but the commander of the soldiers said everyone should patiently wait for them to begin advancing”, said a member of the Civilian- JTF who is conversant with such military operation.

LEADERSHIP Sunday was reliably informed that in order not to create a situation of panic, the Commanders of the troops in Konduga had gathered all residents of the village and informed them about the impending attacks, and why they should not panic.

“The commanders asked us to reach out to residents of Konduga, and then directed everyone to move to one side of the town, where they believed the battle would not get to immediately so that innocent civilians are not hurt,” Abbas said.

“Our saving grace was that we had intelligence report two days to the Friday attack indicating that the insurgents would be attack Konduga with the intention of seizing and using the town to launch a major offensive on Maiduguri. We waited patiently for the day and as God will have it, they came as expected”, said one of the soldiers that took part in the Konduga battle.

When they came, in their usual manner, they sent few of their gunmen, including a car suicide bomber to hit at one of the military posts in order to create some kind of diversion, but unknown to them, the troops already had the town encircled.

“As the advance team of the insurgents entered and were firing, our men engaged them; the larger batch of the troops who might have no idea of what was going on inside the town, waited some moments before they drove in a large convoy of trucks and armoured tanks right into our trap. And with them in the centre and ourselves surrounding them, what happened thereafter is now history.

“We counted over 200 of their dead bodies, including one of them that was strapped ready to carry out suicide bombing. We also shot dead their cameraman and recovered his stupid camera. It was a big victory for our soldiers who were disciplined and gallant all through the operation”.

“It was what we can call ‘operation totality’, because we didn’t record one single casualty on our side and we ensured that not a single one of them escaped,” said the top soldier, who wouldn’t want to be named in this report.

The officer, added that the Boko Haram kingpin, that led the Konduga operation was recognised as his features fit the description given by the escaped retired soldier that was abducted by the Boko Haram terrorists some time last month.

“The Amir was alive for some hours before he later died due to serious injuries he sustained, but he was heavily bearded, and huge, just like that escaped old soldier described to the security intelligence operatives while he was being debriefed. But the big news is that he is dead because we gathered he was one of the deadliest leaders in the sect,” the very reliable source gathered.

The all-time defeat that the Boko Haram suffered in Konduga, was a major setback for the insurgents who have stubbornly continued to carry out reprisal attacks on Konduga in a futile attempt to retake the town and perhaps reclaim their obviously waning ‘glory’.

After the Friday encounter, the terrorists remobilised for another onslaught on Konduga town, in spite of the heavy presence of the already charged army there.

On Tuesday night, the insurgents stormed Konduga again, but they were effectively engaged by the soldiers and this time around, killing well over 250 of them and retrieving some cache of arms – mostly those seized earlier from the army in Monguno, Bama, Damboa and Gwoza areas.

“The Tuesday night attack was expected and the soldiers had really mobilised for another ambush attack on the Boko Haram members who divided themselves into three groups”, said Bashir.

LEADERSHIP Sunday gathered that with the killing of the Amir in Konduga on Friday September 12, Boko Haram appeared to be confused as they continued to send for reinforcements from different camps to storm Konduga.

“On Wednesday morning, some of the reinforcements were mobilised from around Yobe axis with the intention of crossing over to Konduga but were intercepted by soldiers who acted on a tip off confronted them with yet another ambush attack that got about 150 of them killed in Ngamdu village,” the Civilian-JTF chieftain, Bashir said.

At Ngamdu, the military also recovered one Shell Car Armoured tank, several Hilux vehicles mounted with Anti Aircraft and many other ammunitions from the Boko Haram sect. He added that such successful operations had been recorded in the last nine days. They caused the death of many of the insurgents.

Some of the residents of Konduga who managed to arrive Maiduguri were full of praises for the soldiers whom they said had in a rare show of gallantry, succeeded in dealing the Boko Haram a defeating blow.

A resident of the area said that, the insurgents again attempted to attack Konduga on two directions with over 500 fighters while the military fought and defended the town killing unconfirmed numbers of the insurgents.

Despite these defeats, the terrorists did not give up, as they still mobilised again to take yet another attack on Konduga on Wednesday night of which the military still effectively engaged them by killing 65 of them, while others had to abandon their arms and vehicles and fled with various degrees of injuries.

A top SSS official in Maiduguri who confirmed the Wednesday bout to LEADERSHIP Sunday said “more arms and ammunitions as well as vehicles were recovered, and the soldiers are still giving some of the fleeing terrorists a chase”.

Malam Abu’ar Yale, a local farmer said “during the second attack on Konduga, the terrorists came in large number of about 500 but they were successfully repelled by the troops of the Nigerian Army killing scores of them and recovered armoured tanker, vehicles, motorcycles among others.

A bus driver Mallam Isa Garba told journalists that on their way from Damaturu to Maiduguri the previous morning when they were stopped by the military and directed to make u-turn back to Damaturu because the road ahead was under attack.

“But when we were later allowed to proceed with our journey to Maiduguri, we saw several corpses up to about 100, lying on either sides of the road,” said the driver.

Though one would not say it is ‘uhuru’ yet for the soldiers, as the available capacity of the Boko Haram terrorists cannot be under rated, but the insurgents would certainly be leaking their wounds due to the huge losses they may have suffered in the last ten days.

Many Nigerians, especially the residents of Maiduguri have rekindled their respect and admiration for the Nigerian soldiers, even as some said this enviable feat would not have been possible had some of the foot soldiers not decried they alleged as “their being sent to Boko Haram slaughter with faulty weapons.”

 

SOURCE: http://leadership.ng/news/384717/day-military-dealt-blow-insurgents-konduga

I tried this when I newly became a nairalander; but to my greatest surprise, I realise there are so many "scammers" here on this forum! So many of them posing as female(s) but they're actually "fraudsters"!! Some even call you to talk nonsense!

Personally, I have resolved that I would never post any of my details on this forum again because of the activity of these criminals!

Best of luck, Op!

The likes of Atiku do not mean "well" for this Country!

They are only after our Nation's "Resources"!

fluteman: You have just shown the world your poor upbringing. You accused som1 of being senseless, whereas you were actually the one not making any sense. Really behaving tru to type....online tout

When animals like you porknose, I am never surprised! Next time, learn to mind your business! Ewu!

InvertedHammer: \
From what hole did this worm crawl out from?

I quoted you. Yes! Now you can print it out and hang in your parlour as a souvenir to give a semblance of meaning to your miserable life.

/

When "spineless" human souls like you come online to claim "macho"; it is never your fault! Stupi.d nonentity!!

fluteman: funny...you the one without sense

I hope the mods and admin are seeing this? In the meantime, "WOE betide you and your generation"!!! Animal!

Daresh: Nigerian police don't need a crime scene. If you like be sleeping in your bedroom, when dey do raid, you're going to torture chamber. All to extort money.

Do the police just "barge" into you or carry out "raids" without any crime committed around that "vicinity"?? . Maybe you reside around where we term "black spots"!!

InvertedHammer: /
Really?

When your police waits for armed robbers to finish operations, then show up the next day and arrest a busload of innocent people (even waka pass), torture them into confessions or bribery. How do you advise anyone not to be caught in a crime scene? Or do people intentionally walk into crime scenes waiting to be arrested by " gallant" NPF? Knowing your right will not get you anywhere with NPF because their upper hierarchy is in on the scheme. Only knowing a VIP gets good results. Are you not in Nigeria?

You don't make any sense.
\

For you to quote my post and end up writing "nonsense"; it simply means "You don't have any sense"! Animal!

destante: we may soon have a thread on disadvantages of being a human.

Hahahahaha!......You go fear fear!