Second Republic lawmaker, Junaidu Mohammed, has vowed mayhem in country if President Goodluck Jonathan rig his way back to power in 2015.

Mr. Mohammed was quoted by Vanguard as saying “Let me say this, if without the consent of the law, they rig the election the way they rigged 2011 election, there will be mayhem in Nigeria.”

“The only way he can be president against the law explicitly is to connive with the way he did with Jega’s INEC to rig the election and that has been the pattern since 1999 when Obasanjo came. It hasn’t changed.

He said it was clear the ruling party, PDP, can only win a rigged election. But warned of turmoil if that happened.

“The only way PDP will win election anywhere is by rigging the election. If they do that in 2015, there will be mayhem in Nigeria.” he said.

Read more: http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/08/northern-leader-vows-mayhem-if-jonathan.html

The United States has just denounced Zimbabwe election which the main opposition candidate, Morgan Tsangarai, dismissed as a big “farce”. Over 7,000 local monitors have also rejected the election, while one election commissioner resigned has resigned over the conduct of the poll.

On Saturday, one of the nine members of the election commission resigned over the way the election was conducted.

Commissioner Mkhululi Nyathi said in his resignation letter: ”While throughout the whole process I retained some measure of hope that the integrity of the whole process could be salvaged along the way, this was not to be.”

The European Union, which maintains sanctions on Mr Mugabe and his senior aides, said it was concerned about "alleged irregularities and reports of incomplete participation" in Wednesday's election.

Former colonial power the UK said it had grave concerns about the conduct of the election, and urged a thorough investigation of all allegations of violations.

The most critical account came from the largest group of monitors, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), which had 7,000 workers observing the vote.

The organization said problems with voter registration had left up to one million people unable to cast their ballots, mostly in urban areas regarded as MDC strongholds.

Even southern African bloc, SADC, with 600 observers, broadly endorsed the election as "free and peaceful", but said it would reserve judgment on the fairness of the process.

Yet, despite the outcry, Nigeria’s former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, is all his political skillery, is the only observer who has found that poll not only “credible” but “fair”!

The African Union observer team, which Mr. Obasanjo leads which had 70 observers, said its initial report suggested the election was "free and credible".

The mission said there had been "incidents that could have been avoided" and asked Zimbabwe's election authorities to investigate claims that voters had been turned away from polling stations.
http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/08/why-is-zimbabwe-election-fair-only-to.html#chitika_close_button

Since my brother, Christian, was gruesomely killed alongside over 90 other policemen a month ago by Ombatse cultist/ militiamen in Nasarawa, the need for justice – or rather the absence of it – has tormented me like a sore toe in an ill-fitting shoe. Though I’ve tried to airbrush the torture with a façade of occasional light-heartedness, I’ve only succeeded in switching from one level of depression to another like a danfo driver switching lanes in Lagos rush hour traffic.


My pillows should be renamed Insomnia. Even when I manage to sleep, it’s often in snatches – I’m violently roused to reality by frightful nightmares sweating like I took a dive in the devil’s pool. Leaving the house is terribly becoming unexciting these days. Almost everything that thrilled me suddenly tastes bland. I’m badly beaten and bruised all over by dejection.

One might argue that these are signs of intense grieving. True. I haven’t known grief this deep before. The pain I felt at the passing of my old man was nothing compared to this. However, I’m traumatized more at my helplessness to bring the perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice; it disturbs me greatly that 10 years from now I might have to tell my two nephews (3 and 1.5 years old) that the savages that killed their dad were never arrested or prosecuted. Worse, the government and police authorities have made only a feeble, or honestly, no attempt whatsoever to make them pay. They haven’t even bothered to tell the truth of how these men were led to their death. It breaks my heart that the founder of this cult group still talks freely to the media and brags about how “his gods sent fire from above to kill the policemen.”

I’m not saying this because I crave for people’s pity or sympathy. No. First, I want to express how brazen we have become at the brutal waste of human lives and the impunity that vultures around it. Further, I hope by sharing the trauma my family endured these past month, we can begin to, at least, imagine the suffering of thousands of families that have lost loved ones in the convulsing madness that has darkened the soul of the country. I also intend that this piece will serve as a wakeup call for those of us in our nice little bubbles outside the north that evil is roaming just down the street. But I doubt if that would be necessary. If anyone don’t still realize how dare our situation is at the moment, he/she probably just woke up from a thousand years hibernation.
Continue reading....http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/06/premium-times-reporter-whose-police.html

Nigerian health experts also have a view, belated though it may seem, on the oral-sex-throat-cancer controversy, or theory, set off by ailing American actor, Michael Douglas. They agree, as Douglas initially announced (although he later retracted) that throat cancer may be caused by MouthAction!

The Hollywood actor was quoted as telling UK Guardian that the strain of cancer he was diagnosed with had been caused by the sexually transmitted HPV (human papillomavirus).

But a statement from the 68-year-old’s publicist sought to clarify his remarks and said Douglas was not talking about his own cancer.

A statement from Allen Burry, said: “No. He [Douglas] did not say MouthAction was the cause of his cancer."

The publicist reference medical evidence which links MouthAction to throat cancer, but made it clear: “[Douglas] did not say it was the cause to his specific cancer."

Our experts are now talking too on the strange medical theory that has shocked many around the world.

News Agency of Nigeria reports some medical experts as throwing their weight behind Mr. Douglas’ later-refuted claims.
Read Agency report: http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/06/yes-oral-sex-causes-throat-cancer.html

The Syria crisis appears to be entering a new phase of deadly maneuvering with fast-paced events between Monday and Tuesday (today).

On Monday, May 27, the European Union lifted an embargo on arming Syrian rebels, allowing member nations to go ahead to provide the arms as they deem fit.

On Tuesday, Russia announced it will ship in even more deadly weapons to Syria: specifically the state-of-the-art S-300 air defence missiles which can take down any aircraft. Russia said the move will deter some “hothead” foreign countries from intervening in Syria.

Tuesday, Israel, which has long warned about dangerous missiles falling from Syria to Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, declared in a rare, implicit threat to Russia, that it will strike such shipments from Russia to Syria.
More http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/syria-escalationisrael-vs-russia-russia.html

Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi’s suspension by the ruling People’s Democratic Party on Monday is a “political witchunt” that has nothing to do with the reason given by the party.

The party said Mr. Amaechi was punished for refusing to reverse his sacking of the executive council of the Obio/Akpor local government council of the state despite the resolution of the Rivers state PDP chapter asking the governor to do so.

“We are concerned as we believe this is political witch hunt. It is worrisome. The reason given is the suspension of the Obio Akpor council,” said Ibim Semenitari, the state commissioner for information and communications on Monday after the party's decision was announced.

“This is purely a legislative matter and done in accordance to the laws of local government councils in Rivers State.”

The state House of Assembly, controlled by Mr. Ameachi, suspended the leadership of the council weeks ago, drawing the wrath of the newly-installed leadership of the ruling Peoples’ Democratic party in the state.
http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/rivers-state-says-pdps-suspension-of.html

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,governors have rejected the re-election of Gov. Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State as Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF.
Akpabio, Amaechi and Bamanga Tukur
Briefing newsmen after the election, the Chairman of PDP Governors Forum, Gov. Godswill Akpabio of Akwa-Ibom State described the election as a sham, saying they would only recognise Gov. Jonah Jang of Plataeu State as Chairman.
www.vanguardngr.com/2013/05/breaking-news-pdp-governors-rejects-re-election-of-gov-amaechi/

http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/breaking-pro-jonathan-governors-reject.html

A House of Representatives report has indicted the federal government-by implication President Jonathan- of “witch-hunting” Rivers state Gov. Ameachi, by grounding the state's aircraft under claims of false ownership and permit expiration.

The report said Rivers state's claim that its ownership of the plane was held in trust by the Utah Bank was a practice common in the industry and clear, documented and legal.

It said claims the ministry of aviation to deny same, was “unprofessional” and showed “ineptitude” and also gave credence to allegations the federal government was victimizing the state and its governor over a political row between Mr. Jonathan and Mr. Amaechi.http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/house-of-reps-aviation-report-indicts.html

Senator Etok:

"Then if we are talking about 2011 election, yes, the governor supported me but he did so in fulfillment of God’s word that ‘at the appointed time, He would make your enemies to be at peace with you and they will work for you’. As he went round telling people they should not vote for me, ironically brought out money and shared to his Annang brothers without giving a dime to any Ikono/Ini person. He later reversed his earlier stand asking them to vote for me. After the elections, he asked for the refund N100Million being the money spent in campaigning for me according to him. I was constrained to give him N10Million. http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/unheard-of-details-of-akpabios-row-with.html

President Jonathan said on Sunday the option of amnesty remains open for Boko Haram militants who surrender despite a huge military campaign against the sect in three states currently under emergency rule.
http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/amnesty-still-available-to-boko-haram.html

Ahead of the emergency rule declared in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states Tuesday, Boko Haram Islamists controlled at least 10 of the 27 local council areas in Borno state, Reuters news agency quoted security sources as saying.

President Jonathan admitted almost that much (refraining only from the figures). But the president did say part of the country had been seized by the insurgents who hoisted their flags.
Reuters said the number could be closer to 20, as local councilors fearing assassination have fled, leaving a power vacuum filled by bearded radicals with automatic rifles. http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/boko-haram-controls-10-of-bornos-27_16.html

The leader of an Islamic extremist group in Nigeria says his group has started kidnapping women and children as part of its bloody guerrilla campaign against the country's government, according to a video released Monday.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau says the kidnappings are retaliation for Nigerian security forces routinely imprisoning the wives and children of his group's members. The video shows 12 children, a mix of boys and girls, though it does not identify them or say where they came from.

"If they do not leave our wives and children, we will not leave," Shekau says in the Hausa language of Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north.

Police and security forces have not announced any kidnapping cases involving Nigerians taken after Boko Haram attacks, though such abductions could be easily done in the chaos after an assault. Shekau quoted the Quran in the video and said anyone taken by the group could begin a new life as a "servant," without going into detail.

Nigerian security forces often arrest children and wives to draw out criminal suspects in other matters, human rights activists say. Security forces also have been accused of abuses in their fight against Islamic extremists.


In the video, a Kalashnikov assault rifle sits over Shekau's right shoulder as he speaks, the background covered with a rug. It's unclear when the video was shot, though Shekau claims attacks Boko Haram launched on the towns of Bama and Baga in northeastern Nigeria in recent days.

In late April, at least 187 people were killed in fighting in Baga, a town in Borno state that sits along the banks of Lake Chad. Witnesses say soldiers angry about the death of a military officer set fire to homes there and killed civilians. Human Rights Watch recently said an analysis of satellite imagery before and after the attack led them to believe the violence destroyed some 2,275 buildings and severely damaged another 125.

Nigeria's military has blamed the blazes on rocket-propelled grenades fired by extremist and denied killing civilians, despite growing criticism and evidence showing mass civilian casualties.

Boko Haram leader Shekau said in the video that his fighters only launched a "small" attack there at night and had nothing to do with the civilian killings.

"The next morning security forces, they entered there, they burned down house," Shekau says. "They killed that they wanted to kill and in the end, they came and said it was Boko Haram. It's a lie."

Boko Haram's attacks have been increasing in number and sophistication since 2010. Attacks blamed on the group and other Islamic extremists have killed at least 244 this year alone, according to an Associated Press count.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/nigeria-extremists-kidnap-women-children-19169530#.UZEw00PTUcw


http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/boko-haram-says-it-has-abducted-women.html

FCT Minister’s wife, Aisha Bala Mohammed, was turbaned the Garkuwan Mata (Protector of Jiwa womenfolk) of Jiwa by His Royal Highness, Dr. Idris Musa, the Chief of Jiwa. Jiwa is a satellite town in Abuja Municipal Area Council. Her investiture took place during the weekend at the King’s palace.

And guess what the chieftaincy title was for: a dedicated programme of giving a befitting (according to a spokesperson), place of rest to the dead. Serving the dead one might say!

“Always eager to help the less privileged members of the society, Bala Mohammed, set up the Al –Muhibbah Foundation in 2010 initially with the aim of rehabilitating, renovating and beautifying both Christian and Muslim burial grounds within the FCT. She strongly believes that the dead like the living deserve to rest with dignity.”

http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/weird-gravesite-beautification-is-fct.html

Gov. Tanko Al-makura of Nasarawa State has vowed to punish the new armed gang, Ombatse, dismissing the groups a political outfit with disgruntled backers.

Mr. Al-makura said the group is no a regilious one as speculated. His comments came after the group killed at least 30 policemen last week.

``The state government will not watch while some disgruntled individuals hold it to ransom and turn the state into theatre of death, undermining the development efforts of this administration,’’ he said. http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/nasarawa-gov-al-makura-dismisses.html

Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, has spoken of his frustration as vice president reining his party’s governors in from arming youth who would later raise deadly groups that now threaten to tear the nation apart.

On BBC interview Saturday, Mr. Abubakar said he spoke to the governors in the Niger Delta, and in the north; but his advice was not heeded.

“During our time when there was such crisis in Yobe, you saw how we tackled it. First of all, we sent undercover agents who mixed up with the insurgents and understood their modus operandi. When the report was brought to us, we then sent security agents who rounded up the enclave, arrested some of them and killed those that had to be killed. More http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/atiku-abubakar-governors-armed-boko.html

From the Eagle Square, former military, Muhammadu Buhari, put forward some awkward truths and evaluation of Nigeria's current ills on Saturday. His best lines, clear-cut and caustic, could have been more, but here are the best 10 in no particular order.
1. There is an unprecedented fall in the nation’s standard of living and an astronomical rise in the standard of dying.

2. Anarchy is knocking on the door of many sections of this country and the Federal government has not demonstrated that it has the good sense to understand what is going on, or the competence to check it.

3. The patience of this nation and the various communities within it has been severely tried and stretched to its limits. And there is no end in sight.

4. Some areas of the nation are virtual war zones in a country supposedly at peace.

5. Marauders of every description armed to the teeth with all manner of sophisticated armaments roam the national landscape with total and murderous impunity.
More: http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/10-best-lines-from-buharis-speech-on.html

Last time anti-bullet charm made the news, it didn't work. Matter of fact, its maker died!

A traditional doctor in central Nigeria was shot dead in December 2003 by a patient who was testing the potency of an anti-bullet charm the herbalist had prepared for him, police told reporters on Wednesday.

Ashi Terfa died when patient Umaa Akor fired a gun at his head two weeks ago in south-central Benue state, police spokesperson Bode Fakeye said.

"Akor went for an insurance against bullets and contacted Terfa to prepare it for him," he said.
Read more: http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/do-bullet-proof-charms-exist-as.html

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has fired her chief spokesman for allegedly groping a 21-year-old intern during the president’s trip to the United States.

The presidency’s website said that unspecified actions which it called "disgraceful incident" by spokesman Yoon Chang-jung marred the government's dignity in Washington.
US and South Korea media reports cited a police complaint as saying a 56-year-old man grabbed a woman's buttocks in a Washington hotel on Tuesday. The contact was unwarranted, they say, and ti involved an intern hired to work at the South African embassy. http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/south-korean-president-sacks-spokesman.html

US authorities and its nosy media delivered a rather surprisingly measured coverage of the appalling Cleveland, Ohio disappearances-where three women, who got missing a decade ago, were found Monday.
Despite fueled interests for the case, unlike the Boston bombings, reporting have been measured, photographs few, and statements from authorities sparse. Key reason is the need for privacy for sexual abuse victims (having been imprisoned by their captor, regularly raped and abused for years).

In Nigeria, just within same moment, a police team in Imo state is claiming as usual to have plugged a forced-pregnancy-baby factory syndicate, rescuing 17 heavy young women.
And guess what our police did: as usual, they parade the teenagers, aged between 14 and 17, before the cameras- the very women they claimed they set out to rescue. And of course, the trusting media gleefully headline them-a few with facial bandage, but hardly sufficient to distort identification! Read more http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/sexual-abuse-victims-worlds-apart-in-us.html

Turnover at the sugar refiner grew to 27.64 billion naira during the period, compared with 27.05 billion naira a year ago, it said in a filing to the Nigerian stock exchange, according to Reuters. More: http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/dangote-makes-n544-billion-profit-on.html

The foreign minister of Burkina Faso briefly passed out during a live televised news conference with his Turkish counterpart in Ankara on Thursday, the AP reports./17ONrKO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I22K8_eRUAQ

Aljazeera Stream team spoke to Nobel Laurete, Wole Soyinka, presidential spokesperson, Doyin Okupe, publisher of news website SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore and Aljazeera reporter, Yvonne Ndege, during Wednesday’s edition of the programme titled “Bringing Down Boko Haram”.

The initial rounds of questions elicited some form of halting reactions from Mr. Okupe (who was pressed on how the government was dealing with a maniacal group of radical ideologists who find no qualms killing innocent people).
http://www.kopnomi.com/2013/05/presidential-spokesperson-doyin-okupe.html

How powerful can a government agency be?

Nigeria’s most influential government office, the NNPC, on Friday openly denounced the Fed government’s plan to establish a Pipeline Protection Agency, which former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, dismissed last week as another chop chop.

NNPC made it point in the clearest and most uncomfortable ways to authorities. "We neither believe in nor support the establishment of any agency for the specific purpose of protecting pipelines,” a statement, issued alongside Pipeline and Products Marketing Company, said.http://kopnomi..com/2013/05/nnpc-tells-government-to-face-perish.html

The first set of phone subscribers who attempted porting their numbers are complaining about their lines failing both on the previous and the new operators.

Kopnomi is receiving update on the tech kickstarted by the NCC last week. Share your experiences on Nigeria Number Portability for our upcoming story on this subject here: http://kopnomi..com/2013/04/week-after-porting-subscribers-numbers.html

Former UK prime minister, Tony Blair, has been a regular attendee of Nigerian events since leaving office...ThisDay newspaper, Tony Elumelu foundation, and just fortnight ago, church commissioning events in Lagos.

Mr. Blair, who runs a consultancy and is said to have amassed a property portfolio worth millions, gets well paid for many, if not all, of those visits. But how much is the former PM worth when visiting in Nigeria?http://kopnomi..com/2013/04/uk-former-pm-tony-blair-gets-n48.html

“Nobody is safe in Nigeria. They kidnapped the Chairman of Local Council Area Authority, which is not even up to a council and they demanded $1m. How much would they demand if they kidnap a governor, $1bn? You might just stroll to stretch your legs and off you go – get kidnapped! Where would Osun get that kind of money?” Read more on the gov's comments on Boko Haram: http://kopnomi..com/2013/04/terrified-gov-aregbesola-fears-being.html

“This (Sunday) morning, I was travelling from Abeokuta and I was listening to a radio station when I heard that they (government) are going to set up an agency for pipeline protection. Now, what are the police for? What are all the security agencies that we have doing? This is another chop chop.” Read more http://kopnomi..com/2013/04/obj-to-jonathan-probe-me-if-you-can.html

Finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is the founder of the NOI-poll, an opinion research organization that partners with internationally known Gallup.

The group’s March poll on President Jonathan’s approval rating, published April 2, says less than 5 in 10 Nigerians (46%) gave the Jonathan administration, which Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala serves, kudos.

The poll was conducted between March 25th and 27th 2013. It involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample. 1,014 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country, were interviewed. More here: http://kopnomi..com/2013/04/ngozi-okonjo-iwealas-own-poll.html

The conflicting details of the Baga fighting where several people were killed, has continued with residents now gradually emerging from their hiding, and narrating tales of how they heard gunshots on Tuesday, not Friday as reported, before houses went up in flames.

Members of the coastal community accuse soldiers of allegedly killing 185 people and setting thousands of houses alight. But military authorities say the numbers are inflated, and also blame the residents for harbouring Boko Haram insurgents.
http://kopnomi..com/2013/04/new-details-on-baga-killings-military.html

Deadly Islamist sect, Boko Haram, which has claimed to be pursuing a puritanical ideology averse to all forms of vice including extortion, received nearly half a billion naira in ransom before releasing the French family of seven abducted February 19.
International news agency, Reuters, quoted a secret Nigerian government document indicating that the group was paid N497.7 million ($3.15 million) before the release was made.http://kopnomi..com/2013/04/boko-haram-jackpot-sect-received-half.html