₦airaland Forum

Untold story of Kuje prison attack.
■ How over 300 terrorists who coordinated attack operated as labourers, Okada riders in Kuje town
for months
■ Security lapses, conspiracy angles
■ Residents shocked, recounted how they sheltered fleeing prison security guards

https://www.nairaland.com/7220652/untold-story-kuje-prison-attackhow

*How over 300 terrorists who coordinated attack operated as labourers, Okada riders in Kuje town for months
*Security lapses, conspiracy angles
*Residents shocked, recounted how they sheltered fleeing prison security guards

The first, second and third bomb explosions from the Boko Haram terrorists last Tuesday night may have caught the residents of Kuje Area Council napping.

Consequently, many of them were thrown into panic and confusion. But the successful attack on the Kuje Medium Correctional Centre did not certainly come as a surprise to visitors, workers and close residents of the facility.

Fully armed to the teeth, the daredevil Boko Haram insurgents numbering over 300 came fully prepared with bombs, grenades, and all manner of high-calibre ammunition just on a single mission to free their commanders and other members held in the detention facility.

The seamless manner, the clinical execution and insignificant casualties recorded on their part were confirmations that they took their time to perfect and execute the operations with faultless intelligence.

It was not an operation carried out in a haste, as available information revealed that they inhabited freely with the residents, and rented houses near the prison facility, for several months or even up to a year.

As part of their efforts to perfect their planned operation, many of them were said to have disguised themselves, operating as commercial motorcyclists, private security men, traders, and labourers, among other menial jobs, that facilitated their easy blend, especially in the Mosques, markets, and homes with other innocent residents of Kuje.

While the plot lasted, they did not leave any trace that could give them away apart from their excessive consumption of Indian hemp, occasional display of aggression and periodic strategic meetings.

However, as they carry on their clandestine activities, intelligence reports were either weak, not acted upon or totally ignored. The synergy among the security agencies continued to widen to the point that a security report confirming the attack, on the eve, was deliberately or casually overlooked.

Exploiting the weak intelligence, the insurgents had continued to get emboldened by the day, including smoking weeds very close to the back of the prison wall unchallenged and mingling with the security guards during prayers, until the intimidating gang, numbering over 300, successfully carried out the operation with expectedly feeble resistance from the security forces, who may be relatively very new to their duty post.

With the operation successfully carried out in a show of superior force and celebrated in carnival-like mood with soft drinks littering everywhere, human and material loses of an unimaginable magnitude were incurred.

In counting the losses, the prison wall had fallen, inmates, numbering over 1,000 escaped, sensitive and non-sensitive documents were either burnt or carted away and more importantly, the insurgent commanders were freed from captivity to worsen and escalate the war against the enemies of the country.

But, in reality, activities at the Kuje Medium Correctional Centre, to close residents, regular visitors, staff and even the security guards, rightly depict the explosion of the time bomb that has been building up to go off at the planned time.

Apparently, security lapses were evidenced in many ways. There was no regular power supply to light up inside and outside the facility.

According to a Correctional Service staff, the challenging power situation was so bad that inmates had to resort to the use of rechargeable lanterns for light.

“Beyond overpopulating the prison by majorly awaiting trial inmates without conscious efforts to decongest the population, the absence of any Close-Circuit Cameras to monitor activities within and outside the prison yard was another challenge of serious concern. There was no perimeter fencing to ward off intruders, which aided the attackers to easily seize the centre,” the staff lamented.

The source added: “For those that care to know, Kuje Medium Prison is one of the freest facilities in the world. It is so because there has always been an influx of international human rights organisations into the prison. With that development, there is a limit to which the prison authorities can deny the inmates exercise of some fundamental human rights.

“Perhaps, that might have accounted for the reason many high profile inmates were allowed the use of phones. Let me shock you that there is one particular Boko Haram commander inside the prison that knows about virtually all the attacks they want to carry out in any part of the country, even as an inmate. He looks so intimidating with the heavy muscles he had continued to build inside the prison.

“The porosity of the prison accounted for why the authorities rejected the appeal to bring Nnamdi Kanu back to the prison again when he was rearrested. I can tell you that the prison cannot avoid experiencing the horrible incidences it had when Kanu was there before.

“The inmates were sharply divided along ethnic lines. The atmosphere was always charged because the inmates pledged their loyalties to their ethnic leaders like Kanu and the Boko Haram commanders. I cannot forget in a hurry the day deadly clash was averted inside the prison.

“It was obvious that the loyalists to the Boko Haram leaders were tired of the harassment from those loyal to Kanu that always want to clear the road. Unfortunately for Kanu loyalists, they tried it when the Boko Haram commanders who were outside, but they refused to leave the road.

“They threatened to burn down the prison and kill Kanu. The warders on duty begged both sides, but none was ready to bulge. Those in-charge were involved and it took more than 30 minutes to restore calm. After the incident, the prison had peace of the graveyard until Kanu finally left. It was that ugly experience that made the authorities resist any plan to bring Kanu back to this centre.”

How the terrorists struck

Like the divergent views in the description of an elephant, different accounts have trailed the modus operandi the insurgents adopted in attacking the Correctional Centre with the popular account being that they struck through the back gaining confirmation from the authorities.

Some of those whose houses are few metres away from the prison confirmed to our correspondents that the attackers came from the riverside behind the prison; while others claimed they attacked from the front.

However, a prison staff, in an official account argued that they deployed a three-pronged attack.

It was further gathered that the terrorists had gathered, in clusters in surrounding villages, on the eve of the attack to perfect their movement on D-day.

Though the villagers in the communities raised the alarm over the presence of strange persons in their vicinity, to the police and security agencies, not much was done to curtail the movement of these strangers until the attack on Tuesday night.

“What I can tell you for sure is that they knew that if they had escaped through the road, they would have been intercepted by the security forces. The truth is that they were more proactive to choose and study an escape route through the bush path. They came through there and left through the same route. It was a bush path they have used severally without sending a negative signal to the villagers on what their real mission was,” the prison officer told Sunday Sun.

https://www.sunnewsonline.com/untold-story-of-kuje-prison-attack-2/

ABUJA – President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday, took a swipe at Nigerians, saying they are just a bundle of so many contradictions, far away from their religious beliefs.

His message came on the heels of the Eid-el Kabir festivities celebrated by Muslims all over the world.

His message directly resonated with Nigerians of all faiths, saying that “if we are putting the teachings of our religions into practice, most of the evils afflicting our society would have been solved.”

According to the President, “religion shouldn’t just be used as a mere badge of identity, but as a motivator for doing good for our country and humanity.”

He explained that “the exploitation of the people by traders and the stealing of public funds by civil servants and other holders of public trust is a reflection of the abandonment of the teachings of our religions.”

“Our society is a bundle of contradictions. People display external religiosity without fear of God; they make life difficult for others; money becomes their god; leaders abandon their oaths of office by taking money meant for the welfare of the people and divert it to their private pockets,” he said.

He called on Nigerians to put the interest of the country above selfish interests and “use religion as a motivation for the love of our common humanity.”

He also congratulated the Muslim Ummah in Nigeria and the world on the occasion of the Eid, citing for special mention, “the brave men and women in uniform fighting terror on many fronts and their families, as well as others held hostage and kept away from their families by wicked and heartless terrorists.”

He used the occasion to call on all Muslims to reflect on the significance of the sacrifice epitomised by Eid.

According to the President, “We should show love and care to our neighbours and others while celebrating this spiritually important event in our lives.”

President Buhari also advised Muslims “to promote the good virtues of Islam through personal examples and practice,” adding that “Muslims should avoid association with violent extremist ideas that have wrongly given Islam a negative image or poor perception.”

On the current security challenges and costs of living in the country, President Buhari assured Nigerians that “I won’t rest until I bring relief to Nigerians,” adding that “I am quite aware of the difficulties people are facing and working to resolve them.”

The President hope that this Eid will be a source of blessing, peace, prosperity and safety for all Nigerians, stressing that coexistence and stability will prevail in the country.

https://independent.ng/eid-el-kabir-nigerians-a-bundle-of-contradictions-buhari/

Are they OK?

If Nnamdi Kanu was in Kuje Prison, the fifth columnist will have accused & pinpoint the attack on IPOB.

Okonjo-Iweala’s son, Uzodinma suggests Nigeria’s dissolution months to 2023 elections

Beasts of No Nation writer, Uzodinma Iweala, has stated that Nigeria needs another independence and should be dissolved.

Uzodinma made the declaration in his article,’Nigeria’s Second Independence: Why the Giant of Africa Needs to Start Over’, published in Foreign Affairs.

The American magazine of international relations and United States foreign policy is published by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

Uzodinma’s call comes as Africa’s most populous nation prepares for the general elections scheduled for February and March 2023.

The author insists that one of the solutions to the political troubles of the country is its dissolution.

As citizens face serious security and economic problems, he urged them to decide if they want Nigeria’s existence as a state to continue or to expire.

“Nigeria’s political system defies neat packaging”, stressed the son of ex-Finance Minister and WTO DG Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

“Scholars have labeled it everything from the facetious “chaosocracy” to the more benign “entrepreneurial democracy” to the pejorative “kleptocracy.”

Uzodinma said such tags wrongly suggest that Nigeria’s problems stem from individual moral failings within the political class.

Citing experts’ recommendation of good leadership and good governance, the Harvard graduate believes no individual, however well intentioned, can fix the challenges.

“Nothing should be off-limits for discussion – even the dissolution of the country”, he suggested.

“Before doing anything else, Nigerians need to decide: Do they want the patchwork entity named Nigeria to remain Nigeria?

“It is a reasonable question, given that the country is the arbitrary product of colonial boundaries.”

Uzodinma said in their quest to form a working system, citizens should not “limit their thinking to outdated and flawed U.S. and European models of democracy”.

The novelist won the Hoopes Prize and Dorothy Hicks Lee Prize for Outstanding Undergraduate Thesis while in Harvard, among other honours.
Source: Daily Times
https://www.facebook.com/482749575105792/posts/pfbid0S8Ggg3Cf3LGiEDoGWcczRi6hJYkBNJXpBLLBhuWcAxQnWBbj8Q6GnbMhrxX1pznJl/

True

INEC certifies Bashir Machina winner of Yobe North APC senatorial primary; ignores Ahmad Lawan

Mr Machina was certified as the winner of the primary, but he still expects the ruling party to double down its plot to trade his mandate for the Senate President.

The Independent National Electoral Commission has affirmed Bashir Machina as the winner of the ruling All Progressives Congress primary for the Yobe North Senatorial District.

A certified true copy of INEC’s report from the May 28, 2022, election showed Mr Machina scored 289 votes out of 300 delegates, corroborating the politician’s public claim that he won the primary and legally emerged candidate.

The document, certified by the electoral office on June 23, 2022, did not mention Ahmad Lawan, the Senate President who has been labouring to steal Mr Machina’s mandate in collusion with the party’s national chairman Abdullahi Adamu.

Mr Adamu had listed Mr Lawan as the candidate of the APC for Yobe North senatorial election slated for February 2023, claiming that a primary had secretly held in which Mr Lawan purportedly emerged winner.

Even though Mr Machina has been certified winner by the electoral office, he still expects additional fights ahead when INEC will post candidates standing for election across different political parties in the coming weeks. INEC had said it lacked the powers to pick a candidate in an election, even though its authentication was necessary to certify that an election held.

Mr Lawan started making attempts to seize the ticket from Mr Machina after losing at the ruling party’s presidential convention, which was won handily by Bola Tinubu on June 8.

https://gazettengr.com/just-in-inec-certifies-bashir-machina-winner-of-yobe-north-apc-senatorial-primary-ignores-ahmad-lawan/

*Its time to convane National conference on Northern Ethnic minorities."
-Alex Mamchika Atta

https://www.nairaland.com/7174728/time-convane-national-conference-northern

Northern Ethnic minorities are not fools.

"The most marginalized group in Nigeria is the Northern ethnic minority"

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5458506674160641&id=100000040863164

Its time to convane National conference on Northern Ethnic minorities
-Alex Mamchika Atta

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=5458583534152955&id=100000040863164

Muslim-muslim Ticket Is Hard Choice Nigerians May Live With, APC replies CAN, PFN, Others
Details here:
https://www.nairaland.com/7174345/muslim-muslim-ticket-hard-choice-nigerians

*Muslim-Muslim Ticket Is Hard Choice Nigerians May Live With.
*APC NWC Member Replies CAN, PFN, Others
Middle belt group,APC Chieftain condemn idea

IMMEDIATE past Director-General of the Progressive Governors Forum and sitting national Vice Chairman, North-West of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, has expressed concern over what he called ethno-religious consideration colouring the debate on the choice of running mate in the party. 

The national secretariat of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) at the weekend cautioned the presidential candidates of the two dominant political parties, APC and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to be blind to religious consideration in the choice of running mate for their standard-bearers, Senator Bola Tinubu and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. 

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) had also kicked against a ticket of a presidential candidate and running mate of the same faith. 

Speculation is rife that the APC presidential candidate is under pressure to pick a northern Muslim amongst serving governors from the North as his running mate. 

Lukman, in a statement at the weekend entitled, “Issues for APC 2023 Presidential Campaign,” however, said making choices based on ethno-religious considerations could be inimical to finding solutions confronting the country. 

In an allusion to the CAN demand, Lukman argued that “If Nigeria is to move forward, 2023 presidential campaigns must not reduce important debates of moving Nigeria forward to sentimental considerations of ethnicity and religion.” 

The member of the APC NWC submitted further that the “religious and ethnic backgrounds of leaders must be subordinated to experiential attributes of persons being considered for leadership.” 

His statement read in part: “Tinubu won the contest indisputably. With his victory, the debate has now shifted to the choice of running mate. As usual, conservative and reactionary ethno-religious consideration are colouring the debate. Question of Muslim–Muslim ticket, implying that another Muslim from the North will most likely be Tinubu’s running mate. 

“Leading party members are already becoming strong advocates for or against a so-called Muslim–Muslim ticket. This debate is reproducing the old pre-convention reactionary and conservative campaign. 

“If choices of leaders are dictated by ethno-religious factors, Nigerian politics will continue to be disadvantageous to many sections of the country. For instance, only Christian southerners and Muslim northerners will continue to have advantages. 

“Most of those trying to use religious arguments to influence the choice of running mate for Tinubu are impliedly arguing that a Christian northerner can only win presidential election if his/her running mate is a Muslim from southern Nigeria. 

“In the same way, this will be politically disadvantageous, if not impossible for any Christian from the North or Muslim from the South to win presidential election. Such a backward national mindset must be changed. 

“The challenge facing Nigerian politics is about opening the democratic space. It is not going to be easy, but Nigerians must be challenged to make hard choices. 

“If the truth is to be told, both Islam and Christianity, as well as all our ethnic factors have been used in equal measure to hold Nigeria at a standstill. Many so-called religious and ethnic leaders have used and are still using religion and ethnicity to pollute the minds of Nigerians against one another. 

“Perhaps, it is important to stress the point that whatever is the final choice of Tinubu and APC leaders with respect to who emerges as the running mate, the 2023 presidential election will be keenly contested, irrespective of religious and ethnic identity of both Tinubu and whoever the running mate may be. 

“APC leaders must acknowledge the fact that the 2023 elections present another golden opportunity for the APC to re-invent itself. 

“APC must, as a party, use the 2023 presidential campaign to effectively counter all these false narratives. Part of what must be done to achieve that is about developing effective communication strategy, which has been one of the strong weaknesses of both the APC as a party and as a govern- ing party at federal level,” he said. 

Don’t succumb to pressure on Muslim-Muslim ticket, ASOMBEN warns parties 

But the Association of Middle Belt Ethnic Nationalities (ASOMBEN) has warned political parties and their presidential candidates not to succumb to pressure from anywhere to run Muslim/Muslim tickets, saying leadership at that level must reflect the diversity in terms of religious belief. 

Speaking to Sunday Tribune on Democracy Day celebration, the chairman, ASOMBEN, Sule Kwasau, said anyone that loved Nigeria would not contemplate Muslim-Muslim or Christian/Christian ticket for the country. 

“Nigeria is a multi-religious and multi-ethnic country. We have seen over time how politicians in this country used religion to ascend to power and lord it over non-adherents of their religion. 

“Those presidential candidates should know that religion is a very sensitive issue in Nigeria. The leadership must reflect the diversity in terms of religious beliefs, there must sense of belonging. 

“When there’s Muslim-Christian or Christian-Muslim ticket, there is likely to be relative peace. If it worked during [MKO] Abiola and [Babagana] Kingibe time, it won’t work now because of the subsequent events that have taken place”, he said. 

He warned that any political party that flies a Muslim-Muslim ticket within the current historical experience will not see the light of the day in 2023. 

Kwasi, who flayed the governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasiru El-Rufai, over his position on the Muslim/Muslim ticket, said the fact that it worked in Kaduna does not mean it is ideal for Nigeria. 

“Some people say all politics is local, if he thinks it can be replicated at the national level, he should know it is not going to be possible. 

“This country does not belong to any particular religion, if statesmen keep quiet in time of crisis, then they are no longer statesmen. Nigeria is gradually inching towards a religious war and our leaders must be very careful. 

“It would have been a different thing if past leaders have shown capacity in terms of giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. I don’t bother which religion a person belongs to as far as I am getting what belongs to me. 

“But we have seen over the years that our leaders often use religion to suppress none adherents. And there can be no peace without justice, until there’s justice, then we can have peace.” 

On democracy day, the ASOMBEN leader pointed out that democratic processes in Nigeria had been bastardised, adding the recent primaries conducted at various levels had further worsened the situation. 

“What we witnessed in the recent primaries are not good omen. Our democracy is a charade. We do not have true democracy in this country. The democratic processes have been corrupted and compromised. 

You are playing with fire, Vatsa knocks El-Rufai 
Meanwhile, a former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism in Niger State and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Mr Jonathan Vatsa, has taken a swipe at the Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasiru el-Rufai over his comments that MuslimMuslim presidential ticket will not be a problem in 2023 elections. 

Vatsa said that such arrangement would not only spell doom for the party, but also amounted to playing with fire. 

“Kaduna State is smaller than Nigeria. If el-Rufai succeeded in Kaduna with a Muslim-Muslim ticket because he made sure the Christian communities in southern Kaduna did not come out to vote in 2019 general election to exhibit their displeasure, “such experiment cannot work in the presidential election in 2023”. 

The former APC Publicity Secretary in Niger State, in a statement on Saturday, in Minna, titled “The Christians are Awake and Alive in Nigeria ahead of 2023 General Elections”, advised APC presidential candidate, Senator Tinubu to disregard el-Rufai’s comment “because no Christian in Nigeria can vote for Tinubu if he goes ahead with Muslim-Muslim ticket.”

https://tribuneonlineng.com/muslim-muslim-ticket-is-hard-choice-nigerians-may-live-with-apc-nwc-member-replies-can-pfn-others/

good

UMAHI DENIES STEPPING DOWN FOR LAWAN - ARISE NEWS REPORT


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRSazKq5RuA

2023 : YORUBA ARE SMART

Yoruba used Igbo to their advantage. They deceived the Igbos in the name of "southern presidency".

Both Igbo and Yoruba governors were shouting "southern presidency! southern presidency!". The North finally agreed to the southern presidency.

While it is also known that it is the turn of the East, the yorubas have their hidden agenda of yorubanisation.

Look at the people remaining on the list

1. Yemi Osinbajo (Yoruba)
2. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu (Yoruba)
3. Ibikunle Amosun (Yoruba)
4. Fayemi John Kayode (Yoruba)

There are no elements of Igbo in both PDP and APC, and from all Indications, it is one of these Yoruba people that will win and rule Nigeria in the next 8 years.

Since the return of the democracy, no tribe has ruled Nigeria more than the Yoruba. Obasanjo spent 8 years in power. The next Yoruba president will likely spend another 8 years making 16 years. After that, it will be the turn of the North, for another 8 years.

In a nutshell, Igbo won't smell the presidency in the next 16 years because of the trust they put on Yoruba people.

Meanwhile, Yoruba leaders are expected to meet today to select one of them.

Igbo shine your eyes!
Let's say No to one Nigeria!
#ArewaRepublicNow !!!

Source:
https://www.facebook.com/102540928183904/posts/547944900310169/

Arise TV interview:
Our Abductors Were Fulani From Sudan, Mali, They Are Likely Behind Beheading Of People In South-East – Methodist Prelate, Kanu-Uche

Kanu-Uche, in an interview with AriseTV on Thursday, said he was beginning to suspect that killings in Igboland were not from Igbos but Fulani herdsmen.
More read:
https://www.nairaland.com/7158438/arise-tv-interview-abductors-fulani

Our Abductors Were Fulani From Sudan, Mali, They Are Likely Behind Beheading Of People In South-East – Methodist Prelate, Kanu-Uche

Kanu-Uche, in an interview with AriseTV on Thursday, said he was beginning to suspect that killings in Igboland were not from Igbos but Fulani herdsmen.

He said he was beginning to suspect that killings in Igboland were not from Igbos but Fulani herdsmen.

The Prelate, Methodist Church of Nigeria, Dr Samuel Kanu-Uche, has said that his kidnap has nothing to do with the Indigenous People of Biafra, adding that the kidnappers confessed that they were foreigners from other African countries.

The prelate noted that the abductors told him and the other clerics that they were Fulani from Sudan, Mali and Sungai who have been living in Igbo land for a very time and had integrated into the communities and hardly could they be differentiated from the Igbo.

Kanu-Uche, in an interview with AriseTV on Thursday, said he was beginning to suspect that killings in Igboland were not from Igbos but Fulani herdsmen.

“He (the kidnapper) said he was a Fulani from Sudan that about five of them were Fulani from Sudan; about two of them there were from Mali and one of them was from Sungai, but that they have lived in Nigeria for many years. So, I spoke to my bishop, the Fulani then spoke in Igbo that he lives in Umuahia, play football in Umuahia and his parents lived in Umuahia and his father was a cow dealer – a herdsmen but unfortunately the parents died leaving him and his siblings and that he’s the one fending for his siblings.

“What they did to me had nothing to do with IPOB; it was pure kidnapping by Fulani herdsmen because their cattle were very close and manned by some people that have nothing to do with IPOB and I’m beginning to suspect that these are the people who cut off people’s heads; they are not clearly Igbos, Igbos are not known for cutting people’s heads but they are Fulani children, born in Igbo land.

“You can’t differentiate them; they went to school here, their parents were big men cattle dealers, their mothers used to fry ‘akara’ we bought when we were young; so they grew up here and integrated themselves into the society.”
-Sahara Reporters


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-L740bDCBc

There are indications that the nation may soon start experiencing more cargo diversions to neighbouring West African ports as well as increase in freight rates due to the collapse of both Tin Can and Apapa quay aprons.

A quay is part of the port where cargo is lifted or vessels are loaded and unloaded.

In separate chats with our correspondent in Lagos, experts said that shipping companies would now be scared to berth at the affected ports, resulting in the diversion of cargoes to West African ports or a possible increase in freight charges.

A member of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners, Adewale Ishola, said that the present condition of the quay aprons portrayed danger for incoming vessels.

“The quay aprons portray danger to incoming ships. They expose ships coming in to danger, so it means if you are not careful, people will say that our ports are not safe. If our quay aprons are not strong enough to take vessels, it means vessels will reject going to Tin Can port.

“Maybe they will now go to other ports and drop our cargoes. And Apapa port is not even safer because it is older. Apapa was becoming filled up as at then; Tin Can was now built to take some cargoes off Apapa. Tin Can was built out of necessity. That means if ships start to reject coming to these ports because of the collapsing quay aprons, there may be additional premium for them to enter our ports because they know they are taking a risk to come there. So, the cost of delivering cargo might become higher if they have to bring their vessels to come and deliver cargoes at a collapsing quay side,” he said.

Also speaking, an oil and gas analyst, Zaka Bala, said that the collapsing of the quay aprons of the ports spelt doom for Nigerian economy, noting that vessels would start moving away from Nigeria.

“This portends doom for Nigerian economy. It portends doom for Nigerian economy because a lot of vessels will start moving away from Nigeria. And that will make other countries that are on the coastal waters of Atlantic Ocean to start developing their ports. Once they start developing their ports, all the big ships will start diverting to their ports and once that happens, most of the ships that are supposed to bring goods to Nigeria will start berthing in other countries. Before you know it, other countries will take over the position of Nigeria. And once that happens, it means even if we import goods, they will stop in other countries and we will be forced to go to other countries within Africa to bring in our goods. It will spell economic doom for Nigeria,” he concluded.

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Muhammad Bello-Koko, had, over the weekend, raised the alarm that Tin Can Island port was collapsing, saying that more attention should be focused more on rehabilitating the quay walls of the port.

https://punchng.com/lagos-ports-collapsing-cargo-diversion-to-west-african-countries-imminent/?amp

The mods will never move this news that clearly indict the Fulanis & their cohorts in the military.
Its the larger propaganda to silence any such news.
The Prelate said "The Nigerian Army is complicit in the kidnapping,”

Edited:
The mods eventually developed some balls & did the needful.
I don't know why the media are afraid of calling out the Tribe that are mostly killing & Kidnapping people (Fulani). Instead, they rather twist & call them bandits & unknown gunmen. They're simply Fulanis militias. QED

kingi777:
These criminals shall soon be caught up with calamity that awaits them. It won't be well with them and their generations.

OP, at the end of your post, always mention the moderators for them to easily see and push your post to front page.
Eg: Mynd44, OAM4J.

They saw it even before the OP finish posting it on Nairaland. Its part of the larger propaganda not to push any news of crime allegedly committed by Fulani.
This same news is on the front page but the portion where the Prelate mentioned those who kidnaped him (Fulani) was omitted on purpose by the mod you mentioned.
Here is the version of the news they sent to Front page:
https://www.nairaland.com/7154822/100m-paid-release-samuel-uche

Ruling party plots to use northern candidate to stop him

Barely a week to the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress(APC), indications have emerged that the emergence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the candidate of the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), has unsettled the ruling party.

It was learnt that the development has created anxiety in the APC and largely changed its earlier projections to prosecute the 2023 general elections.

A highly placed member of the ruling party from the North told Daily Sun that power brokers in the ruling party have zeroed in on another Northern candidate to counterbalance the threat from Turaki Adamawa.

He said that barring a last minute change of heart, the APC hierarchy may have foreclosed the possibility of supporting a candidate from the South.

He said: In politics, it is not about sentiments. It is like a football game where the players play to win. All the players chase the ball, which to politicians is power, to win.

“The question is who in the APC South can match Atiku considering the voting demographics of North and South. So, the only option is for APC to elect another Northerner to battle Atiku, also from the North.

“Remember, Atiku is a veteran in politics. He has contested four times to be president. Turaki Adamawa is an old war horse with enough experience. So, you must consider a lot of factors before picking any candidate that would face him in such a crucial election. It is not a time for gambling. Let the Atiku and another APC candidate from the North battle for votes in that region.”

The development comes even as the ruling party have been enmeshed in confusion over the unending clamour to zone the presidential ticket to the Southern part of the country for the sake of equity, fairness and balancing, especially after the North has held power for almost eight years now, under President Muhammadu Buhari.

Although the APC national leadership, the presidency and even party chieftains have continued to maintain deafening silence on the direction the ticket pendulum will swing to, the emergence of Atiku, he said may have provided the much anticipated ground for the ruling party to zero in on a northern candidate to counterbalance Atiku.

One of the issues that have dominated the permutation over how the APC presidential candidate will emerge is that President Buhari would anoint one of the aspirants as a consensus candidate.

Since this year, if the rumour millers did not spine the pendulum of the anointed one to the side of the former Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, they would swing to the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, or the former Minister of Education (State), Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba.

Other aspirants speculated to have received President Buhari’s endorsement at one time or the other include Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and now former president, Goodluck Jonathan.

Apparently, the silence of the leadership of the party and President Buhari on the issue of zoning and possible consensus option has contributed hugely in escalating the confusion and anxiety especially which zone will produce the party’s candidate. It has equally kept the aspirants in the dark one week to the June 6-8, Special convention to pick the candidate of the party.

Unfortunately, while the aspirants have remained perpetually anxious to know their fate, the party’s leadership continued to adopt hide and seek tactics, apparently perhaps to wait for the opposition party to pick its presidential candidate.

Many believe that the APC’s repeated rescheduling and adjusting of its timetable and activities for the special convention are part of its hide and seek strategy for the primaries.

Boxed to a corner by the warning from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that it will no longer bow to any pressure again to shift the deadline for the conduct of the primary, in addition to the opposition party setting the ball rolling by picking Atiku as its candidate, the calculation and permutation by the ruling party will not only change but will provide clearer picture to the APC leadership on the direction to take.

Already, Atiku’s emergence may have thrown the leaders of the party into a state of apprehension and disquiet. In the calculations of several party members, zoning the presidential ticket to the South could be tantamount to sending the ruling party into early political retirement.

Yet to others, giving the ticket to an aspirant of the northern extraction equally portends the same consequence if not worse judging by the calibre and political clout of the northern aspirants side by side with the PDP candidate, Atiku.

In the calculation of some critical observers, with the strategic backing from the northern oligarchy for the former vice president, there are indications that the opposition may be coasting to victory going by the perception that it would be easier for Atiku with better political structure and stronghold to mobilise his ethnic-conscious northern electorate than any possible candidate that may emerge in the APC.

Those that hold that view may be hinging their conviction on the perceived and much-touted bulk voting strength of the Northern electorate in deciding the overall winner of any presidential election.

The contention is that should the APC risk zoning its presidential ticket to any other part of the country other than the north, it may be counter-productive.

With the fortune of the ruling party gradually dwindling due to perceived security and economic challenges in the country, in addition to the fact that President Buhari with cult followership will not be on the ballot paper, many argue that Atiku may make mincemeat of any candidate from the South.

Yet to others, APC may have lost the ticket putting in place measures that encouraged greater percentage of the aspirants from the South to pick the presidential nomination forms.

It was understandably so because the party in its quasi-zoning arrangement had settled for certain critical positions in the national leadership especially the national chairman hitherto in the South going to the North.

A chieftain of the party, who shared similar sentiments, argued that none of the APC presidential aspirants can match Atiku force for force during the main election regardless of whether the ruling party deploys state apparatus or not.

“Among those that purchased form in APC, only Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu can boast of rivaling Atiku’s political structure. However, with the current situation, it will be a remote possibility for any of them to get the ticket of the APC. If you take the ticket to the South the northern oligarchy will frustrate it with their massive voting pattern. I can see bold conspiracy against the South in the emergence of Atiku as PDP candidate,” the chieftain, who spoke to Daily Sun in confidence argued.

However, many insist that the general election is certainly not going to be a stroll in the park.

Former APC National Publicity Secretary (NPS), Yekini Nabena, who claimed that with Atiku, the ruling party is at a vantage position to retain power at the centre beyond 2023 boasted APC has the former vice president’s password.

Nabena who spoke to Daily Sun, argued that since Atiku never challenged APC successfully both during primary and main elections, he will still be defeated in the 2023 presidential election.

“Atiku has never been a threat to the APC. If you go back to history, you will know that he has always been a failure in almost all the presidential positions he contested in or against the APC. APC has the password on how to defeat Atiku and the 2023 presidential election will not be an exception.

“We have been in the trenches several times with Atiku but APC has always prevailed. Don’t forget that he contested the party’s presidential primary during the 2015 election; he lost and left the party. He confronted the APC again in the 2019 presidential election and still lost. Yes, we are not going to undermine him and the forces behind him this time around, but we are solidly battle-ready for him,” Nabena boasted.

Asked whether the APC’s presidential ticket pendulum should swing South or North to counter Atiku’s forces, the Bayelsa State-born politician said: “It is too early to bother ourselves with that. We will go to the primary and elect the right candidate but regardless of where our candidate comes from, APC is not afraid of Atiku. He is a featherweight where the APC is involved. I repeat, Atiku is not a threat to the APC.”

Apparently wary of Atiku’s firepower and penetrating political structure, a chieftain of the party wrote: “I urge the National Chairman of the party and the entire NWC to stamp their feet and zone APC presidential ticket to the North East. President Buhari has a right to choose his successor and I call on him to pick Senator Ahmad Lawan as his successor. In every democratic setting, presidents and Governors support and pick their successors.

“I call on President Buhari to pick a successor from the North East and that will be the equity the South East needs. With the North East, the cycle will be closest to completion of regions producing the president of Nigeria.

“By now, all APC aspirants should drop their ambition and support a North Easterner. Senator Ahmad Lawan is the destination. Congratulations to the North East as we look forward to a president of Nigeria from the North East,” the chieftain insisted.

Beyond the permutations, the dilemma of zoning is not the only challenge facing the APC over the emergence of Atiku, as the crack in the national leadership of the party may also count against the party peacefully picking an acceptable candidate.

In a petition the party’s National Vice Chairman (North West), Salihu Moh Lukman, sent to President Buhari, he accused the National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, of not only autocratically handling affairs in the party but has also become inaccessible even to his National Working Committee (NWC) members.

Highlighting the casual manners NWC has handled sensitive issues, Lukman frowned at the constant involvement and peddling of the name of President Buhari over certain issues.

Criticising the levity in handling an issue as sensitive as picking the candidate of the party, he almost passed a vote of no confidence on the leadership, stressing: “The case of appointing Screening, Primary and Convention Committees is a good example. Again, although with your prompting, a committee was set up under the leadership of Deputy National Chairman (North). Sen. Abubakar Kyari, with the task of managing all the processes, eventually the committee was unable to discharge its function.

“Partly because of that, for instance, although the National Convention to elect the party’s Presidential Candidate is scheduled for May 29 and 30, less than 48 hours, we are yet to have a Convention Committee in place. In fact, the presidential aspirants are yet to be screened.

“The official explanation is that you are awaiting final consultation with President Buhari. At the risk of sounding agitated, this is unfair to President Buhari because to the best of my understanding, it is an attempt to use the President’s name to give excuses for failure, if it happens, which should not be the case.

“As NWC and as our leader being the National Chairman, I want to appeal to you on the need for new initiatives in managing the party. At the rate we are going, we are walking back to the old spot of over centralised implementation of party decisions around the National Chairman.

“Increasingly, critical challenges of managing important tasks such as organising National Convention to produce Presidential Candidate of the party is being handled informally. This should not be so, and everything must be done to correct that,” he warned.

Apparently, confronted with this looming leadership crisis, the ruling party, though no stranger to managing crisis, may have serious issue at hand to contend one week ahead of the crucial presidential primary.

Beyond the impending leadership crisis, the fear is that there may be an implosion should the ruling party fail to manage the backlash that will follow the methodology it will use in picking the presidential candidate out of the over 25 aspirants that picked the N100 million nomination forms.

But the Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, dismissed the possibility of Atiku’s emergence, claiming that the dream is still alive.

Speaking to Daily Sun, Okechukwu argued: “methinks Atiku Abubakar’s opportunistic victory will have little or no impact on APC’s election of a presidential candidate from among Ndigbo aspirants or by extension the Southern belt aspirants.

“Don’t think Mr President I know even going by consensus, will deny the South their turn. More so when Atiku has nothing new and tangible to bring to the table in the face of prevailing daunting economic scenario.

“He is used to sharing money and none to be shared. Most importantly, one, northern voters are sophisticated, having voted for Chiefs MKO Abiola and Olusegun Obasanjo, and they will vote a Southerner this time around so as to shame the PDP for breaching rotation convention in their constitution.

“Secondly, there are a number of northern voters who are patriots who believe in equity, natural justice and the imperative of unity of our dear country. Going South is the best to smoothen polarisation in the land. Thirdly, the dormant Igbo voters in Kano, Lagos and other towns plus core non-Igbo APC voters will trounce Atiku at the polls,” he argued.

https://www.sunnewsonline.com/road-to-2023-atikus-emergence-unsettles-apc/

He also blocked me on Facebook when i confronted him with facts about his stance on giving to the poor.
I pity some people who swallow everything Reno dishes out hook line and sinker. Some of his nuggets are manipulative, cunning & crafty.

Jmichael1:
Nawa 4 all these igbo grls ooh.....

She is from Edo state. Her name is bellabionda

THE Northern Elders Forum (NEF) on Friday said it stands by its old call on the Igbo of the South East to be allowed to leave Nigeria if that is what they want. The NEF also told Ohanaeze Ndigbo to channel its energy towards contributing to the security of their region from the rising threats of insecurity. 

The Convener of the NEF, Professor Ango Abdullahi, said these while reacting to a comment credited to the spokesperson of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, in which he referred to the spokesperson of NEF, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, as a security threat. 

Baba-Ahmed had, in an old press conference video clip re-circulated on the social media by a presidential aide during the week, said: “We said if secession is what every Igbo wants, and this is what the Igbos want, the nation should not fight a war over it.” 

He added that they should be allowed to exit Nigeria. 

On Wednesday, Ohanaeze’s spokesperson, Dr Ogbonnia, responded strongly to the statement describing it as “extremely nauseating, uncouth, provocative, incendiary, inflammatory and above all, very arrogant and licentious.” 

The Ohanaeze spokesperson said: “We reiterate that the broadcast by BabaAhmed is a threat to peace and unity of the country and the security agencies should act on time to serve as a deterrent to some others harbouring such minds against the unity and corporate existence of Nigeria.” 

However, NEF convener, Professor Abdullahi said that the statement read by Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed was authorised by the Forum and represented its position. 

“My attention has been drawn to comments by spokesman of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr Alex Ogbonnia, on the Director of Publicity and Advocacy of Northern Elders Forum, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed. 

“These comments are, to say the least, dangerous and irresponsible, designed to achieve only one goal: to put the life of Dr Baba-Ahmed in peril. 

“The Northern Elders Forum states categorically that all comments and statements made by Dr BabaAhmed are authorised, and they represent its positions. 

“The press statement which he read on the 8th of June, 2021 at the forum’s headquarters in Abuja in the presence of the full forum was the statement of the forum by which it still stands. 

“We are aware of attempts to create the impression that this statement is recent, as well as other attempts to misrepresent its contents to create scapegoats for the failure to limit the damage of irredentism. 

“In spite of many efforts to inform the public appropriately, it appears that Ohaneze Ndigbo has fallen prey to more mischief, or is itself actively involved in incitement against a citizen,” Professor Abdullahi said. 

He said the forum stood by its Director of Publicity and Advocacy, whom he described as “a Nigerian whose pedigree and service to the country has few parallels.” 

He said the forum: “sees the claim that Dr Baba Ahmed is a security risk, and the demand that he should be arrested as pathetic and beneath even the ordinary standards of Ohanaeze Ndigbo. We serve notice that we know who to hold responsible in the event of any harm to Dr Baba-Ahmed.”

The NEF Convener therefore told Ohanaeze Ndigbo to “focus its attention on contributing to securing people of the South East from multiple threats, and ensuring that Ndigbo has a befitting relevance in Nigeria. 

“The Forum affirms its full confidence in Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, who will continue to serve the country and the North as we search for a future that accommodates all interests in Nigeria”

https://tribuneonlineng.com/we-stand-on-our-call-on-igbo-to-leave-nigeria-if-northern-elders-forum/

There is protest at Giri junction. Take alternative routes if you're going to Airport or Zuba.