₦airaland Forum

**Orchestrated kidnap of
Mike Ozekhome
**Murder of ex-Deputy
Governor of Anambra
**Attacked Warri Federal
Prisons, freed gang members,
killed 3 wardens
**Kidnapped Delta
commissioner, Hope Eghagha
**Abducted several NYSC
members
Residents of Niger Delta,
especially those in Delta State,
yesterday heaved a sigh of
relief following the arrest of a
notorious kidnap kingpin and
bandit, Kelvin Oniarah, by
officials of the State Security
Service, SSS, in Port Harcourt,
the Rivers State capital.
Also known as Kelvin Ibruvwe,
the criminal, who was arrested
at 3 a.m. was soon after
moved to Abuja.
It was gathered that Oniarah
was apprehended by a
combined team of SSS officials
from Abuja and Delta State
Command in collaboration
with the troops of the Joint
Task Force, JTF, in the Niger
Delta, Operation Pulo Shields.
He was identified as being
responsible for the recent
kidnap of a senior lawyer,
Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), in
Edo State, during which four
policemen were killed.
Oniarah was said to have
maintained operational bases
and detention camps in Warri
and Kokori communities in
Delta State and Ugbokolo
community in Benue State. He
was also said to have bases in
Benin in Edo State and Aba in
Abia State.
Delta State Commissioner of
Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Adaba,
who confirmed the arrest in a
telephone interview with
National Mirror, described the
development as “a great
achievement.”
The kingpin had been declared
wanted by security agencies
over his involvement in
deadly escapades, especially
armed banditry and
kidnapping in which over 100
persons have been killed in
different parts of the Niger
Delta.
National Mirror learnt that he
enjoyed the backing and
support of his kinsmen while
his criminal exploits lasted.
According to sources, the
bandit was protected by his
kinsmen as he engaged in a
kidnapping and killing spree
while he also operated a
special training camp where
he trained thousands of his
kinsmen and graduated them
into criminal activities.
Concerted efforts by Delta
State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel
Uduaghan, and heads of
security agencies in the
region, including that of JTF to
elicit information that could
lead to the arrest of the
hoodlums from the leaders of
Kokori community, were
rebuffed.
Just in March, he led a bloody
operation to Warri Federal
Prisons, where he freed some
members of his gang, who
were being taken to court for
trial.
Three prison wardens and a
top official of the Petroleum
Training Institute, PTI, Effurun,
Delta State, Mr. Julius
Ogungbemi, were killed in the
daylight operation.
He was also fingered as the
mastermind of attacks on
some high profile
personalities, including a
member of the House of
Representatives, Mr. Ndudi
Elumelu; National Vice-
Chairman, South-South of the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,
Dr. Steve Oru, in Eku and
Agbarho areas of Delta State,
in February.
Delta State Commissioner for
Higher Education, Prof. Hope
Eghagha, had also been
abducted by the gang led by
the hoodlum.
Although Eghagha was lucky
but his police escort was killed
in the encounter. The
commissioner was freed after
parting with millions of naira.
The wife of the Commissioner
for Basic and Secondary
Education, Prof. Patrick
Muoboghare, was also held by
the Kelvin gang and the
university don was made to
cough out millions of naira to
free his spouse from captivity.
Many lecturers of Delta State
University, DELSU, Abraka,
were kidnapped and in some
cases killed by the Kelvin-led
gang.
In Abuja, the Department of
State Security Service, DSS, said
the hoodlum carried out
several armed robberies and
kidnap operations in Delta,
Edo, Rivers and Anambra
states.
Some of his other offences
were listed to include the
kidnap and murder of a
former Deputy Governor of
Anambra State, Dr. Chudi
Nwike; the kidnap of a Judge
of the Edo State Judiciary as
well as the kidnap of a top
female official of the Federal
Inland Revenue Service, FIRS,
two victims which the DSS
declined to mention their
names.
He was also fingered in the
abduction of several members
of the National Youth Service
Corps, NYSC.
At a point, members of the
Bench in Delta State had
prepared for a strike in protest
against incessant attacks on
judges in the state by the
gang.
The intervention of the
governor averted the action.
Soldiers of JTF and policemen
were not spared by the blood-
thirsty hoodlum, who killed
and maimed many military
personnel and policemen.
His house in Kokori was
demolished by the police at
the height of his exploits.
Apparently seeking a soft
landing, Kelvin had nine days
ago, sneaked into Kokori,
masquerading as an Urhobo
agitator and sought the
development of the Urhobo
axis of Delta State, by the
federal and state
governments.
The criminal, who beat the
security web in the area to
address thousands of his
kinsmen and journalists,
announced the formation of a
militant group, Liberation
Movement of the Urhobo
People, LIMUP.
Declaring himself as national
leader of LIMUP, he spoke as
over 3,000 women and
youths cheered him and
armed members of his gang,
who were decked in military
camouflage uniforms.
He issued a 60-day ultimatum
to both Delta and Federal
Governments to develop
Kokori in particular and
Urhoboland in general or his
armed group would blow up
oil installations in the areas.
His sudden appearance and
threat to attack oil installations
in Urhoboland triggered a
fresh manhunt for him by the
security agents.
Adaba, who was frustrated by
the deadly exploits, once
lamented: “Kelvin recruits
undergraduates, graduates,
Okada riders, and he buys
motorcycles for them and
tutors them. He has so many
gangs in the state working for
him. There is a network; this is
what I have discovered and
we have been finding it
difficult to get at him because,
in that axis, the moment they
see any stranger, they will
blow the whistle.
“However, we have been able
to bulldoze to some extent; it
was in Kelvin’s house that we
picked up the personal
assistant to a commissioner in
the Delta State Oil Producing
Areas Development
Commission, DESOPADEC, who
was kidnapped. His (Kelvin)
parents were there, but you
know this arrest by proxy, we
do not want to be involved in
it; otherwise, the person that
is giving everybody headache
in this state is Kelvin and he is
from Kokori.”
Soldiers invaded Kokori in the
aftermath of his arrest
yesterday. There was a report
of exchange of gun fires
between troops and members
of his gang in the community.
The details of the bloody
encounter were not available
at the time of filing this report
last night.
It was, however, learnt that
scores of persons were
arrested by the federal troops
in Kokori as the residents fled
the community in droves.
The police commissioner told
National Mirror that the
suspect would be prosecuted
after preliminary
investigations by the
authorities in Abuja.
“It is a welcome development
that the notorious kingpin has
been apprehended finally and
he is going to face
prosecution for his various
crimes. He is already in Abuja,
answering questions from the
interrogators,” added an
elated CP.
The DSS in a statement, which
was signed by its Deputy
Director, Press and Public
Relations, Marilyn Ogar
described Oniarah as a
“notorious terrorist, kidnap
kingpin and armed robber,
who has been on the wanted
list of security agencies.”
The DSS said he had
orchestrated the kidnap of
Mike Ozekhome on August 24,
2013, along the Auchi- Benin
road as well as several
members of the National
Youth Service Corps, NYSC, and
security agents.
“Kelvin Oniarah has been
taken into custody and
investigation of his notorious
activities has commenced,”
Ogar added.


nationalmirroronline.net/new/end-of-the-road-for-kelvin-notorious-kidnap-kingpin/

President says he scrapped plan to travel to
New York after receiving intelligence that
his life was in danger.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has
said he cancelled his plan to take part in the
UN General Assembly in New York to
"protect my life" after purported threats on
it.
I decided then and there to continue back to
Caracas and drop the New York trip to
protect a key goal: safeguarding my
physical integrity, protecting my life.
Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelan President
Maduro, just back from a visit to China, said
on Wednesday that on a layover in
Vancouver he received intelligence on what
he said were "two highly serious
provocations", which prompted him to
scrap his UN trip.
"When I got into Vancouver I evaluated the
intelligence which we received from several
sources. I decided then and there to
continue back to Caracas and drop the New
York trip to protect a key goal:
safeguarding my physical integrity,
protecting my life," Maduro told local media.
One of the alleged provocations "had been
planned against my physical integrity" and
another could have involved violence in
New York, the leading face of Latin
America's left charged.
Venezuela is the region's closest ally of
Communist Cuba which regularly has
charged these conservatives were plotting
against their leaders, leftist policies and
governments.
Maduro earlier this month claimed the White
House is plotting the "collapse" of his
government next month by sabotaging
food, electricity and fuel supplies.
Maduro's predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez,
also made regular claims about several
alleged US plots to kill him.
m.aljazeera.com/se/201392615438501918

The Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, has resolved the
confusion that hitherto trailed the
candidature of the Peoples Democratic
Party, PDP, for the November 16
governorship election in Anambra State,
with the release yesterday, of the name of
Nicholas Ukachukwu, as the authentic
candidate of the party. By this development,
the commission has successfully shut the
door against Senator Andy Uba and Mr.
Tony Nwoye, who had laid claim to being
candidates of the PDP, with different orders
of courts in their support.
The list of the 23 candidates released by the
INEC include: Okeke Chika Jerry, AA;
Chukwemeka Nwankwo, Accord; Dr. Ifeatu
Ekelem, ACD; Engr. Anthony Anene, ACPN;
Comrade Aaron Igweze E, AD; Chief Anayo A.
Arinze, ADC; Patrich Chukwuka Ibeziako, APA;
Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige, APC; Chief
Willie Maduabuchi Obiano, APGA; Chief
Austin Nwangwu, CPP; Chijioke Geofrey
Ndubuisi, DPP; Christian Ikechukwu Otti, ID;
Chief Dennis Nwaforka Oguge, Kowa; and
Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, LP.
Others are Pastor Simon Chinweuba Okafor,
MPPP; Okonkwo Emeka Webster, NCP; Prince
Leornard Uchendu, NNPP; Nicholas
Chukwuejekwu Ukachukwu, PDP; Ezeemo
Godwin Chukwunenye, PPA; Hon. Basil
Iwuoba Oranekwu Ijedimna, PPN; Onuarah
Basil Onyechonam, SDP; Barr. Okoye Godson
Ohaenyem, UDP and Prince Akanneebu
Ogochukwu, UPP. In a statement by Chief
Press Secretary to the INEC chairman,
Kayode Idowu, the commission said that “a
total of 23 political parties nominated
candidates for the election.”
It said: “In line with the provisions of
Section 31 (3) of the Electoral Act 2010, as
amended, the Independent National
Electoral Commission, INEC, has on
September 24, 2013, published the Form
CF001 (Personal Particulars of Candidate) of
candidates nominated by political parties
for the November 16 governorship election
in Anambra State. “A total of 23 political
parties nominated candidates for the
governorship and deputy governorship
slots.
Two political parties, namely the All
Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had issues
with the candidates they intend to sponsor
before the closure of nominations on
September 17, 2013.
But the Federal High Court in Awka eased
the contention over the All Progressive
Grand Alliance, APGA’s nomination by
vacating its order directing the Commission
to accept two governorship candidates
from the party.
“For the PDP, the Commission resolved to list
Nicholas Chukwuejekwu Ukachukwu as the
governorship candidate in accordance with
the latest order as delivered by the Federal
High Court, Port Harcourt, in Suit No. FHC/
PH/CS/296/2013 – Nicholas Chukwuejekwu
Ukachukwu vs. Dr. Tony Nwoye and three
others.
“The Commission hereby advises political
parties and their members that only those
on the list published by it are allowed to
conduct electioneering. Any violation of this
rule amounts to an electoral offence and
security agencies are urged to intervene as
such.”

The promoters of Michael Jackson's last
tour were "so excited" about making huge
profits that they did not bother to hire a
competent doctor for the star, his family's
lawyer said Tuesday in closing
arguments. As a five-month trial draws to a
close, Jackson attorney Brian Panish said the
self-styled King of Pop was "an easy target"
for AEG Live, which was managing his "This
is It" tour starting in London in 2009. "We
may never see the likes of Michael Jackson
again," Panish told the 12-member jury in a
courtroom in downtown Los Angeles,
where the trial opened in April and has seen
nearly 60 witnesses and over 800 pieces of
evidence. Jackson died on June 25, 2009
from an overdose of the anesthetic
propofol at his rented Holmby Hills mansion
outside Los Angeles, where he was
rehearsing for the "This is It" shows at
London's 02 Arena. He was 50 years old. Dr.
Conrad Murray was convicted of
involuntary manslaughter in a criminal trial
in 2011 for giving the drug to the "Thriller"
star who suffered from chronic insomnia to
help him sleep. He was jailed for four years.
In the civil trial, the singer's mother
Katherine Jackson, 83, is seeking massive
damages her lawyers have cited $1.5 billion
in lost income and an unspecified amount
for emotional loss and other damages for
Jackson's death. She alleges that AEG Live
negligently hired an inappropriate and
incompetent doctor for her son Murray is a
cardiologist and missed a series of red flags
about his failing health in the run-up to his
death. "They chose not to check anything
about Dr. Murray's background. They chose
to run the risk, to make a huge profit, and
they lost and they're responsible," he said.
"AEG wanted the King of Pop in their arena
in London. They would do whatever it took
to get him on stage. They were so excited
about how much money they were going
to make," he added. "They knew what they
were getting. Now they want to come in
and deny it." Summing up his case, he said
Jackson may have been one of the world's
most famous entertainers but in his mind
he was like "a real-life Peter Pan." "He was
an easy target" for the corporate promoter,
long experienced in running tours for some
of the biggest acts in the world, he said. AEG
Live counters that it did not sign a contract
with Murray, and that a promised $150,000
a month for his services would come from
an advance it was making to Jackson,
meaning effectively that the star hired his
own medic. The promoter's lead lawyer,
Marvin Putnam, is due to present his side's
closing arguments after Panish concludes
his summing up.

[quote author=pak]Why the focus on the condoms in the first picture ?[/quote

Maybe thats what the thread poster came to buy.

Benedict denies cover up in what is
believed to be first statement directly
responding to sexual abuse accusations.
Former Pope Benedict has denied that he
tried to cover up sexual abuse of children
by Roman Catholic priests, in his first direct
published comments since he stepped
down in February.
The comments, which a victims group
rejected, were made in an 11-page letter to
Italian author and mathematician
Piergiorgio Odifreddi, who had written a
book about the problems facing the Church
before the pope resigned in February.
"As far as you mentioning the moral abuse
of minors by priests, I can only, as you
know, acknowledge it with profound
consternation. But I never tried to cover up
these things," said Benedict, who now has
the title Emeritus Pope.
Excerpts of the letter were published in the
Rome newspaper La Repubblica on Tuesday
with the former pope's permission.
Victims groups have accused Benedict of
not doing enough to stop the abuse of
children by priests while he was pope and
before when he was head of the Vatican's
doctrinal office, the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
The Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests (SNAP) rejected his assertion.
"In the Church's entire history, no one knew
more but did less to protect kids than
Benedict," SNAP said in statement.
"As head of CDF, thousands of cases of
predator priests crossed his desk. Did he
choose to warn families or call police about
even one of those dangerous clerics? No.
That, by definition, is a cover up," the SNAP
statement said.
Victims groups say there is much still to be
discovered about how the Church behaved
in the past and want more bishops who
were aware of abuse to be held responsible.

caseless: those pushing 2 win people back 2 catholic fold by adulterating d doctrine, jst needed dz pope 2 kickstart on this note , then somebody can implement it in d future. The man is achieving his aim, i guess dz is why he was picked.

Picked or Elected?? Well any one can serve. What i have failed understand from your views is...Do you mean every single Cardinal is behind such changes? Every single power broker in the vatican is in line with the views of the Pope? Do u mean that this is a pre-planned arrangement?

caseless: expressing his views? Yea..he's free 2 d this, but we must not 4get d consequences and ripple effect dz is gonna have on the church and adherents. They need somebody 2 kickstart it, then somebody could come in d future and implement it and reference wl b made 2 pope francis and his crass ideas.
On arinze, have u asked urself why d selection mostly favour europeans? Then that tels u that there is nothing special about d selection if it favor one particular region.

Wow!! You mean the views of Pope Francis is part of a bigger picture? Sort of a conspiracy to effect radical changes in the Catholic church? Well time will prove you either right or wrong. As regards to Cardinal Arinze and the European favoritism,the answer is right before you.Pope Francis is not from Europe.

Syncan: I actually agree with the Pope. He said the most important teaching of the church is " Jesus has saved you". This is what the church was commisioned to do, this is what the church ( in following the dictates of the media) is almost forgetting to do. What converts is grace and not discipline. Discipline can only aid in the guarding of inherent grace, hence we should focus on gaining the grace more, while not forgetting discipline. One has to read the full text to understand his teaching. I have come to realise that selected portions are often taken out of his speech as stand alone, hence distorting his message and insinuating new meanings. He is bold, his views may not be entirely refined as yet, but he is waking up theologians from their slumber surely, for they are becoming more like the pharisees and mosaic laws. Zeal for his flock is driving the shepherd to take controlled risks. Its a call for catholics to read the CCC and witness the beauty that lies there in.

I think you have a point there.

Symphony007: nobody has challenged pope francis because he has not implemented any of his utterances. When he tries to implement his radical changes, then the cracks in the church will become visible. By the way, when asked about pope francis performance in office so far, the catholic archbishop of boston, a cardinal, replied "disappionting". Watch out for part 2.

Thats what am trying to say. When all these changes his advocating is brought before the vatican for consideration,it is then we will find out if there is opposition or not.

caseless: it appear so; how come no one has risen up 2 challenge his adulteration of doctrine?
Dz controversy popping pope seems to b enjoying some in-house support 2 do what he's doing. Can u defend d vetican that watched arinze being shortchanged when we thought a nigerian was gonna attain tha highest position there?

For now,the Pope is just expressing his views.Non of what he said has been passed into law in the vatican so i guess it will be quite early to question the absence of opposition in the vatican.Coming to the issue of Cardinal Arinze,its no secret that the vatican elections is one of the most secretive elections on earth. We will never know if he was really cheated in d election or not.

caseless: and u think he's not being submissive 2 avoid being shot in d head? He's acting according 2 d dictate of the vetican. We all knw how many attacks j. Paul survived simply becos of his stance on some issues. So, if u wanna stay wth God, stay wth him and not becos of what he gives or takes.

Are you saying the whole vatican is in support of this sudden wholesale changes to the doctrines of the Roman Catholics which has been there for cenutries?

Symphony007: Pope francis, keep iberalising the church and face the tearing apart of the church just like anglicans are torn between africa and western. And mind you, the college of carinals and emeritus pope benedict won'nt stand by and watch this. What has'nt happened in the vatican for centuries will play out.

A sort of impeachment

Francis calls to end 'obsession' with doctrine in interview on the church' s stance on
homosexuality , abortion and women.
Pope Francis has said the Catholic church must shake off an obsession with teachings on
abortion , contraception and homosexuality and become more merciful or risk the collapse of its
entire moral edifice " like a house of cards" .
Signalling a dramatic shift in Vatican tone , Francis said in an interview with an Italian Jesuit
journal , published on Thursday , that the church had " locked itself up in small things, in small -
minded rules " and should not be so prone to condemn.
Its priests should be more welcoming and not cold, dogmatic bureaucrats . The confessional , he
said , " is not a torture chamber but the place in which the Lord 's mercy motivates us to do
better " .
His comments were welcomed by liberal Catholics ; but theology commentators said they were
likely to be viewed with concern by conservatives who have already expressed concern over
Francis' failure to address publicly the issues stressed by his predecessor , Benedict.
Francis, the first non - European pope in 1 , 300 years, the first from Latin America and the first
Jesuit pope, did not hold out the prospect of any changes soon to such moral teachings .
It is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person .
Pope Francis on the Church's stance on homosexuality
But , in the 12 , 000 - word interview with Civilta Cattolica , he said the church must find a new
balance between upholding rules and demonstrating mercy.
The pope told the magazine he envisioned a greater role for women in the 1 . 2 bn - member
church but suggested it would not include a change in the current ban on a female priesthood.
In a remarkable change from his predecessor Benedict , who said homosexuality was an intrinsic
disorder, Francis said that when homosexuals told him they were always condemned by the
church and felt " socially wounded " , he told them " the church does not want to do this" .
He re - stated his comments first made on a plane returning from a visit to Brazil in July that he
was not in a position to judge homosexuals who are of good will and in search of God .
" Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has
set us free , " Francis said .
" It is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person . "
American Jesuit and author of several books on the Vatican, John Gehring , said Francis was
" rescuing the church from those who think that condemning gay people and opposing
contraception define what it means to be a real Catholic .
" It 's a remarkable and refreshing change, " Gehring said .
Abortion repremand
However, Francis alluded to criticism of him within the conservative Catholic establishment.
" We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion , gay marriage and the use of contraceptive
methods. This is not possible ." he said .
" I have not spoken much about these things , and I was reprimanded for that ."
Last week, US Bishop Thomas J . Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island , spoke for many conservative
Catholics when he said he was disappointed that the pope had not addressed " the evil of
abortion " more directly to encourage anti- abortion activists.
US bishops were also behind Benedict's crackdown on American nuns, who were accused of
letting doctrine take a backseat to their social justice work caring for the poor - a priority that
Francis is endorsing.
The pope said the church's pastoral ministry could not be obsessed with the transmission of a
disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently .
" We have to find a new balance; otherwise even the moral edifice of the church is likely to fall
like a house of cards ," he said .
However, the comments contained no change in church teaching, and the pope said reform
should not happen quickly .

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An in - depth look at the shadowy group as violence continues to wrack the West African country 's
northeast .
Since 2009 , an estimated 3 , 600 people have been killed in an insurgency launched by the group
known as Boko Haram , which says it wants to establish an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria .
Boko Haram has repeatedly attacked schools , churches, mosques and markets, but state
institutions such as police stations and military facilities have remained primary targets .
Following a public outcry , the Nigerian government declared a state of emergency in three states
in May this year and launched a military offensive against the group.
An army spokesman said Wednesday that a military strike on a Boko Haram camp last week killed
150 of the outlawed group's fighters and 16 soldiers .
The Nigerian military claims to be making major strides in defeating Boko Haram , but rebel
attacks continue . There is scant opportunity to verify military claims or investigate some of the
human - rights abuses purportedly committed by the army.
Little is known about Boko Haram and its motivations, and information about the
group 's activities remains under a tight coil.
Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege and Azad Essa explore the background of the armed group and
examine how the crisis in the northeast is affecting Nigeria .
Origins of the group
The story of Boko Haram , or Jama'at ahl al - sunna li - da'wa wa - l - qital, as it is also known, is a
difficult one to establish.
While Boko Haram is a religious organisation , it is almost impossible to separate the activities of
the group with the political , economic and territorial struggles in northern Nigeria which , in spite
of a secular consitution, is often divided on religious lines .
Established in 2002 in Maiduguri, Boko Haram spent 2002 - 2009 consolidating its base , spreading
its disdain for Western education and government corruption, culminating in the creation of
alternative schools and attacking symbols of state power , most commonly police stations in
northern Nigeria .
The group purportedly changed tactics and attacks intensified after its leader, Mohammed Yusuf ,
was killed in police custody in 2009 following a police raid.
This resulted in reprisal attacks on police that spread to four states .
Since 2010 violence has intensified and on May 15 , 2013 President Goodluck Jonathan was forced
to declare a state of emergency in three of the states affected by Boko Haram .
Motivation
The group believes that strict Islamic law should be imposed in Nigeria . Little is known about its
leadership or members .
While Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted Christian institutions such as churches, most people
killed in attacks have been Muslims.
Most of the children , women, men , and businesses affected are in the Muslim north, and many
analysts say it is not a Christian- Muslim feud.
Some observers say the crisis stems from poverty and disenfranchisement of people in the
northern region .They say people there feel abandoned by their leaders .
A large part of Nigeria 's federal government budget is spent on security . Some Nigerians believe
rogue elements within the security forces are behind some acts of violence, in order to profit
from security contracts.
Since 2009 , it is believed Boko Haram has merged into several different sub - groups :
War on Western education
The English translation of Boko Haram is “ Western education is sin ” . Western education is central
to the group's beliefs and activities .
Since the group started its offensive , it has followed the doctrine that Western education is
haram - prohibited and against the teachings of Islam . Targeting schools has become a Boko
Haram trademark.
This has resulted in thousands of parents across the region withdrawing their children from
institutions where Western education is taught , fearing attacks .
In this way, Boko Haram has succeeded in creating an environment where children are taken out
of class and schools are forced to shut down .
Communication breakdown
Following the declaration of a state of emergency , the security services set out to disconnect all
communication , from mobile phones to satellite phones, making it difficult to contact people to
verify what is happening on the ground .
The military have , on a day - to - day basis, put out information to the public giving the impression
it is succeeding in the war against Boko Haram . It is difficult to cross- check the military 's version
of events , however .
Media coverage
The media have been seriously restricted from working in areas affected by the crisis. Al Jazeera,
for instance , has been told in some cases that it cannot access these locations .
The military says it is for reporters' own safety , but there are doubts about this explanation.
Some believe it is a calculated effort by the security services to make sure the war on Boko
Haram is either not reported at all , or portrayed in a way that supports their side .
Al Jazeera has documented the plight of civilians caught up in the fighting , and that a refugee
crisis has been created . All this has been done with extreme restrictions on movement imposed
by the military .
Humanitarian crisis
A refugee crisis has come to fruition with thousands forced to move into neighbouring
Cameroon and Niger . The UN estimates that up to 8 ,000 people have entered Cameroon alone,
while local organisations say the number might be close to 20 , 000 .
It is unclear how Nigeria ’ s Emergency National Management authorities are combating the crisis.
It has said there's a lack of resources coming from the government .
Northern Nigeria marginalised
A feeling exists among some people in the areas affected by Boko Haram that the authorities -
and in particular the federal government - are not taking this crisis seriously.
The country ' s leadership , including President Jonathan, comes from the mainly Christian south .
There is a perception that since the crisis is not affecting the area where the people in power
come from , the leaders are not taking it seriously.
Risks to Nigeria
Nigeria is an incredibly resilent nation . It has experienced civil war , religious extremism , ethnic
violence and several other crises since independence from Britain in 1960 .
Some observers say the Boko Haram crisis could lead to civil war, or the country splitting up , but
history shows otherwise .
Unabated violence , a feeling of marginalisation by the federal government , unemployment , and
poverty are all seeds of potentially more bloodshed .

#1 The teenager girl who wanted to go to her homecoming dance and died 3 days later

Brett Marie Christian, 15, had leukemia and the prognosis wasn't good. She was dying, but
before she died, she wanted one last dance but she was too sick to go to the Homecoming
Dance. So her classmates made her last wish come true and brought the dance to her. That's
how Palmyra High's homecoming came early that year at the Monarch in Lincoln, where
people go to die. She wore a pink dress and her hair in curls. She had a manicure and a
pedicure. Her date bought her a corsage and a necklace, too. Brett and Treyton Carter danced
the first dance in the commons room, with 50 or more of their classmates who were dressed
for a party.
Miss Christian was crowned homecoming queen on a Saturday night and died three days later
with her family all around. There were lots of things the high school sophomore knew she'd
miss. Getting married, having kids, growing old .But she wanted one last dance.

#2 The dying girl who wished to see Pixar's ‘Up'

Colby Curtin got her final wish. The 10-year-old girl desperately wanted to see the new
Disney-Pixar movie, “Up.” But the cancer-stricken girl was too sick to go to a theater. So a
family friend contacted someone at Pixar to see if they could help. The very next day, Pixar
flew in an employee with a bag of “Up” memorabilia and a DVD version of the film. Together
he and Colby's family all watched the movie. The movie features a large plume of balloons
released to the sky. Colby died 7 hours later.
Note: Our reader Christopher wanted us to add that according to TV Tropes, the movie was
not in theatres yet, and Pixar specially made a DVD for her, flew it out, and let her have her
wish. On top of that, it is written that they didn't try publicizing it either.

#3 The 100-year-old woman who got her degree a day before dying.

It was Harriet Richardson Ames' dream to earn her bachelor's degree in education. She finally
reached that milestone nearly three weeks after achieving another: her 100th birthday. The
day after receiving her diploma at her bedside, the retired school teacher died, pleased that
she had accomplished her goal. Ames had earned a two-year teaching certificate in 1931 at
Keene Normal School, now Keene State College. At age 100, Harriet Richardson Ames fulfilled
her dream of earning her bachelor's degree in education.

# 4 The dying boy who helped feeding the hungry.

Brenden Foster (October 4, 1997 – November 21, 2008) was a boy from Bothell,
Washington, diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2005. KOMO, a local
broadcasting station, reported the story of Brenden's last wish, which was to feed the
homeless. He said he wanted to be an angel so he could help the homeless from
Heaven. The story inspired many, and prompted attention from national media, even
drawing international attention.
Brenden Foster (October 4, 1997 – November 21, 2008) was a boy from Bothell,
Washington, diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in 2005. KOMO, a local
broadcasting station, reported the story of Brenden's last wish, which was to feed the
homeless. He said he wanted to be an angel so he could help the homeless from
Heaven. The story inspired many, and prompted attention from national media, even
drawing international attention.


#5 The woman who wanted to get married as her final wish.

Maire Taomia was diagnosed with gastric cancer and, as a dying wish, asked her father to
give his blessing for the marriage. The Ashburton woman and Marouna Tunui, 23, were
married in a bittersweet ceremony before 300 friends and family at St. Christopher's Church
in Avonhead.
When the doctor told Taomia there was nothing more they could do, she told her father: "I
want to get married." The young couple, who have been together for more than two years,
have a one-year-old son, Detroit. The pair has lived in a single-bed room in Christchurch
Hospital since November 2010. Rongo said his daughter was energetic and beautiful during
the ceremony held in January 2011, but her illness was not forgotten.
CanTeen, the Cancer Society of New Zealand and Christchurch's Millennium Hotel covered the
costs of a wedding cake, a wedding dress, a limousine, a photographer and a hotel room for
the couple's honeymoon.

#6 The six-year-old girl who wanted to leave love letters to her parents.

When 6-year-old Elena Desserich was diagnosed with brain cancer, she began hiding hundreds
of little love notes around the house for her parents to find after she was gone. She was given
135 days to live. She lived 255 days, passing away in 2007. After her death, Elena's parents,
Brooke and Keith, found hundreds of notes from Elena hidden around the house — in
between CD cases, between bookshelves, in dresser drawers, in backpacks. "It just felt like a
little hug from her, like she was telling us she was looking over us". Elena's parents, Brooke
and Keith Desserich, later published these notes in a book called Notes Left Behind to fund a
non-profit organization The Cure Starts Now dedicated to fighting pediatric brain cancer.

Tension in Syria between rival rebel groups reached new heights as the US threatened to strike
President Bashar al - Assad 's regime.
Self - described jihadist groups - some with alleged links to al - Qaeda - say they fear US missile
attacks against Syrian military installations would also target them , and that the West was
seeking to use moderate rebel factions to keep them in check - much as the US - funded
" Awakening Councils " did in Iraq . The result is increasing animosity in Syria between jihadist
groups and Western - backed fighters .
The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant ( ISIL ) , an armed group operating in Syria and a US -
designated " terrorist organisation " , announced last week it would " go to war " against two other
rebel groups in the town of al - Bab, in Aleppo governorate .
ISIL 's leadership is based in Iraq and its ranks include many non- Syrian fighters. It has
declared a " purifying maliciousness " military campaign to round up fighters from the al- Nasr and
al - Farouq battalions , both operating under the loose banner of the Western- backed Supreme
Military Council .
The two groups had stormed the ISIL headquarters - based in a school - in an attempt to evict its
fighters . ISIL had refused to comply with an agreement among the town 's rebel factions to stay
away from education institutions and allow children to return to school in the new academic
year. The raid led to a hours - long firefight , and both sides traded blame after several people
were left injured .
The situation in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor , near the Iraqi border , is hardly any better .
On Saturday night, deadly clashes in al - Bu Kamal erupted between jihadists and the Allahu Akbar
Brigade , an opposition group credited with the capture of the city from Assad forces in November
2012 and which also operates under the Supreme Military Council .
In the northeastern province of al- Raqqa , meanwhile , fighting between ISIL fighters and the
Ahfad al - Rasoul battalion , another Supreme Military Council - linked organisation , also killed some
11 people in the past month.
ISIL accused Ahfad al- Rasoul of being collaborators with the Assad regime - and blew up its
headquarters, rounding up several of its members . ISIL also released a video that purports to
show an Ahfad al - Rasoul commander admitting to being a French intelligence agent.
An Ahfad al - Rasoul fighter told Al Jazeera the confession was filmed under duress , pointing to the
commander 's shaking voice and tied hands . " Had we been collaborators with the regime , you
would not have seen us at the hotspots, " said Ibrahim Edliby.
He said ISIL was trying to capture strategic areas from other rebels who had fought for months
to take control of territory from Assad forces. " You do not see ISIL fighters in hotspots clashing
with the regime . You see them trying to extend their control to areas we struggled hard to
liberate. "
The Supreme Military Council , promoted by Western and Gulf backers as an umbrella of moderate
groups boasting hundreds of thousands of fighters , is being increasingly challenged by thousands
of jihadists and foreign fighters , who have flocked to war - torn Syria to fight Assad 's regime.
' Enemies of Islam '
Once united in the fight against government forces, the ISIL and other similar groups have
recently labelled some Supreme Military Council factions " Sahwat " , likening them to US - funded
" Awakening Councils " in Iraq . Those armed groups established themselves in Sunni tribal areas in
2005 ostensibly to help the Iraqi government with security , as violence raged throughout the
country . The Awakening units were at the forefront of the fight against al - Qaeda and other
jihadists in Iraq .
Now , some suspect the US is planning to establish similar armed factions in Syria .
Echoing the fears of jihadist groups that other rebel groups may turn their arms against them -
especially if Assad 's regime falls - al- Qaeda 's leader Ayman al - Zawahiri said in a video recording
released on September 11 the " Sahwat the US is trying to create in the Levant will be destroyed -
God willing " . He urged armed Islamist groups not to " reconcile with secularists and enemies of
Islam in any way" .
The talk of a possible air strikes by the US on Syrian military installations has accentuated
divisions on the ground and deepened the jihadists ' suspicions of secular and moderate Islamist
armed groups .
The developments in Syria are straying away from US calculations. The Syrian street has never
been more attuned with the Islamists and more supportive of an Islamic project in the country
the way it is now.
Jabhat al - Nusra fighter
Supreme Military Council commanders have unequivocally called on Washington to carry out
missile strikes on Assad 's military assets , hoping such an offensive could help bring the regime
down .
The jihadists , meanwhile , say if the US decides to intervene militarily in the Syria, they
themselves would not be spared .
" Once the Syrian skyline is violated, the air strikes would extend to the positions of the jihadists
[ in rebel- controlled areas ] . They will start targeting them in the name of the fight against
terrorism, " a member of Jabhat al - Nusra , al - Qaeda 's branch in Syria, told Al Jazeera..
Bracing for a US attack, members of ISIL have already emptied some of their offices in Aleppo ,
relocating to more discreet areas in the northern city 's suburbs . Commanders in Jabhat al - Nusra
have also taken new security measures in anticipation of a US strike, the source in the group told
Al Jazeera, speaking on condition of anonymity .
The Jabhat al- Nusra member said he believed the West was intervening in the country because
" the US proxies " in Syria were losing ground to the jihadists .
" The developments in Syria are straying away from the US calculations, " he said . " The Syrian
street has never been more attuned with the Islamists and more supportive of an Islamic project
in the country the way it is now. Syrians have been rejecting the Western- backed projects in the
country , including the Jarba project. "
The Jarba project is a proposal put forward by Ahmad Jarba , the leader of the opposition Syrian
National Coalition. He called for the creation of a 6 , 000 - strong national army to unite the
hundreds of rebel groups and to counter the influence of the jihadists .
The proposal has not yet materialised because of a lack of logistical and financial resources, said
spokesman Louay Mokdad of the Supreme Military Council , the military wing of the Syrian
National Coalition.
" It would be a proper national army with the purpose to protect the Syrian people from those
who kill them, be it the Syrian regime or anyone else , " Mokdad told Al Jazeera. " If the jihadists
see themselves in a position where they are killing Syrian people, then this would be their
problem. "
' ISIL doesn ' t represent me '
Aaron Zelin of the Washington Institute , whose research focuses on jihadist groups and networks ,
said he did not believe there was an Iraqi - like Sahwa movement brewing against Syria's jihadists .
The jihadists in Syria had learned from the mistakes of Iraq's jihadists a decade ago , he said .
Those who operated in Iraq " used excessive violence, targeted Sunni Muslims and tried to
institute a narrow interpretation of Sharia " .
Meanwhile , jihadist groups in Syria , especially Jabhat al - Nusra , have developed a measure of
popular support among residents in areas under their control by providing social services . They
are seen as fair and honest , especially when other groups resorted to looting and banditry.
" We have seen them doing some sort of governance and outreach to people there, and therefore
they have been able to show people they aren ' t these scary monsters , " said Zelin.
But tension still exists between residents and jihadi groups , and this has reportedly heightened in
recent weeks . Several activists have been threatened and imprisoned for criticising the Islamists
and the public executions of Assad loyalists . The arrest of a local journalist by ISIL in Aleppo on
Saturday spawned an " ISIL doesn' t represent me " campaign on Twitter [ Arabic ] .
But Zelin said protests against jihadists have been limited .
As for fighters under the direction of the Supreme Military Council , they " cannot afford to turn
against jihadist groups" , he said .
" The fighting forces on the battlefield are interconnected and continue to fight [ Assad 's regime ]
together . The jihadists are fighting with the more mainstream Islamists , as well as non- Islamists , "
Zelin told Al Jazeera.
" This is because there is no such group that is qualitatively stronger than the others and ,
therefore, they need to work together to survive . "

Yemen's human rights minister has said she will press for the minimum age of marriage to be set
at 18 , after the reported death of a young girl on the first night of her marriage.
Eight - year- old Rawan was said to have died last week from internal bleeding after sexual
intercourse , after having been married to a man in his 40 s in the northeastern province of Hajja.
The provincial governor , however, on Saturday denied the reports that Rawan had died.
If the case was confirmed and covered up , then the crime would be more serious.
Huriya Mashhoor, human rights minister
Huriya Mashhoor told the AFP news agency she wanted to revive a bill that has lain dormant
since 2009 , which would have set the minimum age for marriage at 17 , and amend it to raise the
age to 18 .
" We are asking to fix the legal age for marriage at 18 , as Yemen is a signatory to the
international conventions on children 's rights , " she said .
The governor of Hajja province told official news agency SABA that Rawan was still alive .
Ali al - Qaissi said " the young girl Rawan Abdo Hattan is still alive and normally lives with her
family who , in turn , deny the whole thing" .
But he added that " the young girl is currently in a social protection centre after undergoing
physical and psychological tests in a public hospital " in the area .
' Not enough evidence '
Before the denial from the governor , Mashhoor had said : " We do not have enough evidence at
the moment . "
" But I am worried that there could be an attempt to silence the matter, especially as it took
place in an isolated rural area in Hajja province where there have been similar cases before.
" If the case was confirmed and covered up , then the crime would be more serious," Mashhoor
warned .
Mashhoor has been involved in a campaign against the marriage of child brides in Yemen. There
is no clear definition in the country of what constitutes a child , making it difficult to battle the
practice .
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged the Sanaa authorities on Friday to
investigate the case " without delay and to prosecute all those responsible for this crime" .
Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday that 14 percent of girls in Yemen are married before the
age of 15 , and 52 percent before 18 , citing Yemeni and 2006 data from the United Nations .
Marrying off young daughters is a way for poor Yemeni families to save on the costs of bringing
up a child and earn extra money from the dowry given to a girl .
According to the UN about half of Yemen's 24 million people lack sufficient food and access to
safe water .

I see no reason why a terrorist group like al qaeda will b regarded as a false flag. Going by d interests of d US that such group has attacked on several occasions,i think its unthinkable to assume dat the CIA in some way sponsors this group.

The world will know that he intends to destroy his country if he doesnt comply

false flag? do u mean to tell us dat CIA sponsored d september 11 attack?

Syria has been given one week to declare its stock of chemical weapons , and the country must
immediately allow in international inspectors , US Secretary of State John Kerry after talks in
Geneva with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov .
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva on Saturday , after the third day of intense
negotiations , Kerry said that arms inspectors should be on the ground in Syria by November with
the goal of eliminating the country 's chemical weapons by mid - 2014 .
" Providing this framework is fully implemented it can end the threat these weapons pose not
only to the Syrian people but also to their neighbours , " Kerry told reporters at a joint press
conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after they wrapped up three days of talks
in Geneva .
" Because of the threat of proliferation this framework can provide greater protection and security
to the world ," he said .
" The world will now expect [ President Bashar al- ] Assad 's regime to live up to its commitments .. .
There can be no room for games . Or anything less than full compliance by the Assad regime ," he
added .
They said Syria must comply with the agreed deal and that if Damascus fails to do so , they will
seek a Security Council resolution .
Lavrov said their decision was based upon " consensus and compromise" , pointing out that the
deal contained nothing about the potential use of force if Syria fails to comply .
But Kerry said there was no pre- agreement on what action the UN Security Council might take if
Syria fails to comply with the plan, which envisages a complete destruction of its chemical
weapons by mid - 2014 .
The negotiations between the US and Russia on securing Syria 's chemical weapons also are
considered key to a resumption of peace talks to end the Syrian civil war .

The leader of al - Qaeda has urged his followers to strike inside the US to " bleed America
economically " , adding that the United States can be defeated by targeting its economy , according
to a message posted on a website frequently used by the group .
In an audio speech released online two days after the 12 th anniversary of the 9 / 11 strikes,
Ayman al - Zawahiri said that America is not a " mythic power " and that the mujahedeen - Islamic
holy warriors - can defeat it with attacks " on its own soil " .
" We should bleed America economically by provoking it to continue in its massive expenditure on
its security , for the weak point of America is its economy , which has already begun to stagger
due to the military and security expenditure ," al - Zawahiri, the successor to Osama bin Laden,
said .
The message 's authenticity could not be independently confirmed.
Keeping America in such a state of tension and anticipation only required a few disparate attacks
" here and there" , he said .
" As we defeated it in the gang warfare in Somalia , Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan , so we should
follow it with . . . war on its own land . These disparate strikes can be done by one brother or a few
of the brothers . "
At the same time , Muslims should seize any opportunity to stage small attacks or a " big strike"
against the United States, even if this took years of patience , he said .
Enemies of Islam
The September 11 , 2011 attacks, in which hijacked airliners were flown into New York 's World
Trade Center , the Pentagon in Washington and a Pennsylvania field, triggered a global fight
against al - Qaeda members and their affiliates .
Almost 3 , 000 people were killed in the attacks.
In his audio speech , al - Zawahiri - who is believed to be hiding in the Pakistan- Afghanistan border
region - said Muslims should refuse to buy goods from America and its allies , as such spending
only helped to fund US military action in Muslim lands.
He added that Muslims should abandon the US dollar and replace it with the currency of nations
that did not attack Muslims .
Al - Zawahiri spoke approvingly of one of the worst attacks on the US soil since September 11 ,
2001 , the bombing of the Boston Marathon in April , which US authorities say was carried out by
two ethnic Chechen Muslim brothers . The attack killed three people and injured 264 .
On Syria 's civil war, al- Zawahri addressed al- Qaeda - linked fighters - including many foreign
fighters - who have taken an increasingly prominent role in the fight against President Bashar
Assad 's regime.
Their rise has caused tensions with more moderate Syrian rebel factions , even escalating to
violence and turf battles .
America wants to use " the Muslim people as a means to topple the pro- Iran Baathist regime and
install a secular government and peaceful to Israel " , al- Zawahri said .
It " will try to push the mujahedeen to compromise with the secular factions and the enemies of
Islam " .
" I warn my brothers in Syria against any compromise with those factions . They have to learn the
lesson of Egypt , " al- Zawahri said .

Seven heavily armed Taliban suicide attackers struck the US consulate in the
Afghan city of Herat before dawn on Friday, setting off two car bombs and
sparking a shootout with US forces. The sophisticated
attack in the western city, a key business hub near the Iranian border, underscored how
the Taliban are able to strike outside their main centres in the south and east.
At least one Afghan guard was killed in the attack and 18 other people wounded, but US
officials said there were no US casualties with all consulate staff safe and accounted for.
The US State Department said the attackers appeared to be wearing suicide vests and
detonated a truck bomb that "extensively" damaged the front gate.
Afghan security officials said six attackers took part in the assault, detonating a minivan
bomb and then a four-wheel drive vehicle, before engaging in a gunbattle with security
forces.
The attack comes days after Pakistan said it would soon release its top Taliban prisoner,
former military chief Abdul Ghani Baradar, in what Afghan officials hope can ignite peace
talks.
The Taliban publicly refuse to negotiate with the Afghan government, branding Afghan
President Hamid Karzai a US puppet, but opened a liaison office in Qatar in June billed as
a step towards talks with the Americans on a possible prisoner swap.
"Today at around 5:30 am, a minivan suicide bomber detonated his car outside the US
consulate in Herat city," Abdul Hameed Hameedi, the deputy security chief of Herat
province told AFP.
"Another suicide bomber driving a four-wheel drive detonated outside the first gate of the
US consulate — damaging the gate.
"After that five suicide bombers engaged in a gunbattle with the Afghan security forces,
and after a while, all of these suicide bombers get killed in the attack," Hameedi added.
He said an Afghan guard at the US consulate was killed and two other guards and two
policemen wounded. A number of civilians were wounded because of the powerful
explosion, he said.
Herat hospital spokesman Mohammad Rafiq Sherzai told AFP that 18 people were
wounded, including four policemen and 14 civilians.
Abdul Raouf Ahmadi, a spokesman for Herat police, confirmed the same account and said
that US and Italian forces were also called to the scene and cordoned off the area.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that there were several casualties
on the Afghan and US side but the militia is known to exaggerate its claims of deaths and
injuries.
The front gate of the US consulate was "extensively" damaged, US State Department
deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters.
She said the attack started at 5:30 am when the gunmen, dressed in suicide vests, drove
up to the front gate in a truck, opened fire and then detonated the truck bomb.
American and contracted security personnel reacted to the attack before it came to an end,
Harf said.
US Ambassador James Cunningham condemned the attack and thanked Afghan and NATO
troops for their quick response in securing the building and keeping consulate staff safe.
"We are reminded again of the very real human toll exacted by terrorism. The
perpetrators of this attack have shed Afghan blood on Afghan soil," he said in a
statement.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP in a telephone call that the militia were
responsible.
"Our mujahedeen, armed with heavy and light weapons, attacked the US consulate in
Herat. There are several casualties to Afghan and US forces," he said.
In the southeastern province of Paktika, a suicide truck bomber wounded at least 14
Afghan security personnel outside the town of Sharan when they stopped the vehicle,
police said.
US-led NATO troops who have supported the Afghan government against the Taliban are
due to end their combat mission next year, after Afghanistan holds key presidential
elections.
The US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan on Tuesday dismissed suggestions that
Washington would withdraw all troops from Afghanistan after next year.
Aides to US President Barack Obama earlier this year openly mulled the so-called "zero
option" of a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan once US troops end their combat role
in 2014.
James Dobbins, the special envoy, said he expected "several thousand American forces and
several thousand non-American NATO forces" in 2015 and beyond.
Roughly 100,000 foreign troops now serve in Afghanistan, two-thirds of them from the
United States.
Obama has pledged to the war-weary US public to end the country's longest-ever war,
which was launched to fight Al-Qaeda and their Taliban allies after the September 11,
2001 attacks.

Officials of Royal Dutch Shell have held talks in Nigeria 's southern city of Port Harcourt with
representatives for the Bodo community on compensation and clean - up five years after major oil
spills devastated parts of the Niger Delta .
The two oil spills that started in 2008 led to the largest loss of a mangrove habitat ever caused
by a spill , affecting about 30 , 000 people in the Niger Delta area since then , according to London -
based law firm Leigh Day .
" These people, since 2008 they are living on a creek of oil. You step out of the front door you see
oil , breathe in oil and toxic fumes ,'' said lawyer Daniel Leader of Leigh Day , a law firm that is
representing about 15 , 000 people from the community that filed a lawsuit in 2012 .
Although Royal Dutch Shell has admitted responsibility for the two spills, the impact has been
disputed and will be the main focus of negotiations in Port Harcourt .
Compensation dispute
Royal Dutch Shell said a joint investigation team estimated 4 , 100 barrels were lost in the two
spills. That estimate is based on the initial investigations by representatives from the company
and the local community, Jonathan French, the company 's spokesman , told The Associated Press
news agency .
" Having said all that , it doesn't matter how much was spilled because the compensation will be
based on the financial loss that people have suffered because of the spill in the lagoon, '' he said .
" And that is a matter of dispute between us and the claimant. "
Leigh Day said that 15 , 000 fishermen and 31 , 000 inhabitants of 35 villages were affected in and
around the Bodo lagoon and its associated waterways .
The law firm says independent experts estimate between 500 , 000 and 600 , 000 barrels were
spilled, devastating the environment that sits amid 90 square kilometres of mangroves, swamps
and channels .
But Shell says such estimates are high .
Shell spokesman French said the company did not have access to the area to clean it up , and
that not all oil spilled was a result of the company 's operations .
Shell blames most of the spills in the region on attacks by armed groups or thieves tapping into
pipelines to steal crude oil , which ends up on the black market.p
Nigeria , one of the top crude oil suppliers to the United States, requires companies to promptly
clean up oil spills but the policy is not enforced .
Both parties have said they hope to reach an agreement by the end of the week.
Neither side would discuss possible settlement figures. Britain's Guardian newspaper reported
that the company is thought to be offering about $ 20 million in compensation while the villagers
seek $ 200 million.
Local communities remain largely hostile to Shell and other oil firms because of environmental
damage . Some environmentalists say as much as 550 million gallons of oil have been poured into
the delta during Shell 's roughly 50 years of production in Nigeria .
The United Nations has recommended that the oil industry and Nigeria 's government set up a
fund , with an initial injection of $ 1 billion , to begin what could be a 30 - year clean - up and
restoration project in the oil- stained region.

Charge Your Mobiles with Peepal Leaves!

Now, you do not require any mobile charger... to
charge your mobiles. Only there is need to use green
leaf of peepal(Ficus religiosa) tree and after some
time your mobile will get charged. No soon the... people came to learn this
development, they tested it and found encouraging
results. If your mobile has been discharged and you
are inside a jungle then you need not to use any
charger. You Should pluck two peepal(Ficus
religiosa) leaves and your work would be done. It is very good idea and easy to charge your mobile.
You would have to open your mobile battery and
connect it with peepal leaf. After that without shaking
mobile set you should set the battery in your mobile
set. After some time your mobile would be charged. Though it is unbelievable but as soon as the
residents of Chitrakoot,Nepal. came to know about
the discovery they could not believe the news. But
when they saw it practically then the incident proved
true. Now hundreds of mobile holders are using this
technique and charging their mobiles. Whereas according to the botanists, it is just
changing mutual energy into electrical energy power
can be saved in battery. Similarly, it is also possible.
They said that it is the subject of research. Step by Step guide to charge your mobile battery
using peepal leaf:-
1- Open your mobile cover
2- Take out your battery
3- Take two to three fresh leaves of peepal/pipal/
ashwattha tree 4- Touch the stub of these leaves on your mobile
battery terminal for a minute
5- Clean the mobile battery terminal with the soft
cloth
6- Put your battery again in your mobile and switch it
on 7- Now you can see the result
8- If required repeat the process with fresh leaves.

The 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' created the moral
blueprint for the civil rights movement. In April 1963, Clarence Jones, the legal counsel for Martin Luther King Jr, took scribbled bits of
newspaper and toilet paper he had smuggled out
of King's Birmingham jail cell and passed them to
Wyatt Tee Walker, King's chief of staff. In turn,
Walker handed them to his secretary, Willie Pearl
Mackey King, so she could type them up. By the time she was 22, Mackey had seen racial
prejudice at its worst. According to historian S
Jonathan Bass' account in "Blessed Are the
Peacemakers", she had quit her job as a counter
waitress at a popular Emory University lunch spot
after a group of white students in blackface took a photograph inside the eatery. She later quit another
job in the food-service department of an Atlanta
hospital after an elderly black coworker was
denied treatment for a heart attack because it went
against hospital policy to treat blacks. Now she was typing up a letter that would
challenge the cultural acceptability of racial
prejudice - even if the greater meaning of the task
had yet to dawn on her. "[King] was so anxious to get a response to [the
clergymen]", Mackey King says. "If you have a story
you really need to get out and the boss needs you
to get it out, you work hard to get it out. The
importance of the letter didn't mean anything to
me. Something needed to be done." The result? Letter From Birmingham Jail, the guiding
force of the civil rights movement, celebrated this
month on the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. "There is a need for us to understand and
appreciate what it took to get the letter, to get the
words out of jail and make them available to the
public," says Democrat John Lewis, who represents
Georgia's 5th District in the US Congress - and is
the last surviving speaker from the March on Washington. "And for it to be written, typed and
sent out, it is a powerful, powerful message not just
to the American religious committee but to the
world religious committee and community at large
for them to understand that there comes a time
when someone like Martin Luther King Jr is moved by what I call the spirit of history." The process of turning scraps of jailhouse
newspaper and toilet paper into Letter From
Birmingham Jail remains, in itself, a seminal
achievement. The decision for King and the movement to go to
Birmingham in early April 1963 to initiate civil
disobedience was no accident. After more than a
year trying to desegregate public facilities in
Albany, Georgia, little had changed in the city's
schools and parks. The New York Herald Tribune called the Albany campaign "one of the most
stunning defeats of King's career". The movement
needed to be repositioned. But in Birmingham, King was served with an
injunction that forbade him from organising
nonviolent protests pushing for desegregation. Bull
Connor, the infamous Birmingham commissioner
for public safety, contended that the continued
protests would "cause incidents of violence and bloodshed" as well as "irreparable injury to
persons and property". Leading a nonviolent
protest, King was promptly arrested, ending up in
jail during what was an uneasy time for the
movement. The uneasy mood in Birmingham took its toll on
King's staff. "I didn't think I'd see my wife or
children anymore," Walker says. "I didn't see how I
could get out of there alive." With hundreds of teenagers in jail for peacefully
protesting segregation, Jones, as King's legal
counsel, had to deal with angry parents who
demanded to know when their children would be
bailed out. In King, Jones knew he had an ace in
the hole who could be a powerful fundraising tool for bail money. But when Jones went to raise the issue with King in
his dark jail cell devoid of a mattress, something
else happened. Almost dismissive of what Jones
needed at the time, King revealed that there was an
even more pressing issue on his mind. "Martin, do you understand what I just told you?"
Jones asked. King responded, "Yes, but did you see this?" Pulling out a copy of the April 13 edition of the
Birmingham News, an apoplectic King pointed to
the full-page ad from eight white clergymen,
essentially telling King, the outside agitator who
refused to put a halt to the protests, to leave. To
them, King's "unwise and untimely" campaign had no place in Birmingham. They went on to praise the
calm nature of the city's law enforcement in the
ironically - and tragically - titled "Call for Unity". "I have to answer this," King told Jones. It was then that Jones realised that King had
already begun to respond to the clergymen. "I look around and see every blank space and
edge of every old newspaper there had been
written on, including paper towels," Jones says. Making the most of the little sunlight that trickled
through the bars of his cell, King wrote furiously
from his encyclopaedic memory, quoting the Bible,
Shakespeare, Voltaire and theologians, on any
scrap of paper he could find. The tide of indignation
that came from the clarity of his thinking those few days in jail produced what amounted to the black
community's declaration of independence. King needed more paper, and he also needed what
he had written to be transcribed. Jones, who visited
King twice a day in one of his tailored suits, would
smuggle paper in and out using the inside pocket
of his jacket. Since the jail personnel saw him every
day, they didn't feel the need to pat him down. How Mackey King found her spot in this important
history is all the more curious, given that she was,
by her own admission, a terrible typist. "I'm still not the greatest typist in the world," she
says with a quiet laugh. "Working for Walker, you
had to get it right, even if it killed you. He was not
easy to work with. I was scared to death of the
man." A strategist and mediator in King's inner circle at the
time, Andrew Young was still relatively green on
the campaign front. Like others in King's inner circle
who were working on the letter's production,
Young was solely focused on the transcription. To
him, nothing else mattered. "I sat there and watched her do it," Young says.
"She would call me over and ask: 'Andy, what is this
word?' She'd say: 'Dr King can talk, but he sure can't
write.' "We were so focused on the translation and getting
what he said right that we forgot the importance of
the paper." King's less-than-stellar handwriting was a real
challenge for Mackey King, who was racing against
the clock. "It was not clear. It was almost like
chicken scratch. My vocabulary was certainly not
something that could have helped me figure out
what [King] was saying. I typed what I thought I saw. Sometimes that would be right, and other
times it wasn't right. His handwriting was terrible.
You just couldn't figure it out." Some of the scribbled notes from King were in such
bad shape that several of them were thrown in the
trash. At the time, King's staff didn't make it a habit
of keeping or archiving his material, so for Mackey
King, the act of tossing the illegible, beat-up notes
wasn't to be second-guessed. "I tell you what," Mackey King says, "after looking
at them for so long, I had no reservation in
throwing them away whatsoever... To me, it would
have made no sense to keep [those scraps].
Everybody wants to criticise, but [those scraps]
didn't have the same meaning." In the days and weeks during the letter's
construction, Mackey King would work deep into
the night to transcribe King's writings. After not
sleeping for two days and two nights, physically
and mentally spent, she passed out with her head
on her typewriter. Walker moved Mackey to a nearby couch, sat at the typewriter and finished
typing the letter himself. Later, historians began to
wonder whether Walker, whose own fiery, verbose
sermons became legend, had any individual
influence on the letter's wording. "I was just doing a job," says Walker. "I didn't edit
so much as I translated it. Dr King's thoughts were
clear." The mood in Birmingham, along with the increasing
anger among parents of the jailed teens, had a
couple of members of his inner circle questioning
why King spent so much time responding to the
clergymen. "I didn't really pay attention to the letter until
almost a week later," says Jones. "When I was
reading it quietly somewhere, I said to myself: 'Oh,
my God, this is unbelievable.'" The letter had something of a barbed quality and
did not help curb the violence by Birmingham
police during the protests. But King and his inner
circle were patient. Then on May 2 of that year, Birmingham's version
of D-Day happened, with Birmingham police
wielding water hoses and unleashing German
shepherds on nonviolent protesters. The disturbing
images of black men and women being doused
with water, and of dogs viciously attacking young protesters, were soon disseminated worldwide.
The media coverage surrounding the photos
brought attention to the letter and helped push the
movement toward Washington, DC. In the summer
of 1963, about 250,000 people would join the
March on Washington. King was front and centre, representing the grander scope of civil rights, and
that's how those who helped produce and support
Letter From Birmingham Jail preferred it. "Social-change agents function better when they're
under the radar," Young says. "Everybody could be
under the radar, but Dr King. I think we saw
ourselves as supporting his vision and his mission.
Nobody needed to know who we were."

In yet another reprisal attack by insurgents,
some gunmen Tuesday night slaughtered no
fewer than 44 people at Dumba village on the
outskirts of Baga town, in Kukawa Local
Government Area of Borno State. Meanwhile, the Presidential Committee on
Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of the security
Challenge in the North yesterday displayed video
recording of Shura members of the Boko Haram
sect where they called on their field commanders to
ceasefire as being proposed by the government, saying that prophet Mohammed sanctions dialogue
during Jihad. Sources told our reporter yesterday that about 50
gunmen stormed Dumba village which is some
kilometers away from Baga and slaughtered 44
people. Many people were also said to have been
injured during the attack that lasted for hours. It was gathered that the gunmen also set fire on
some houses in the village. Baga is about 157
kilometers away from Maiduguri, the State capital
and an epicenter of the insurgency which had
witnessed series of attacks through bombings and
gunshots. Our correspondent gathered that rescue workers
have been mobilized to the area from Maiduguri
with the aim of providing medical services to the
surviving victims.
The assailants were said to have removed the two
eyes of some of the victims while many others had their bodies decapitated.
A rescue worker told Journalists in Maiduguri that
the village came under attack late Tuesday when
some unknown gunmen stormed the settlement
and killed many people when they were fast
asleep. '' As am speaking to you now, Red cross officials
and the San Medicine Frontier are attending to the
injured victims," a rescue worker with a federal
government agency who does not want to be
named said.
According to him, the village has been deserted, as the people are now taking refuge at the Baga
central primary school. A source with the National Emergency Management
Agency (NEMA) who confirmed the incident to our
reporter, said the agency has mobilized to the area
to access the situation with a view to render
humanitarian assistance to the injured victims and
those who were psychologically trauma-tized in the attack.
According to him, the agency will on Saturday
(today) set up camp at the Baga central primary
school for the displaced victims. On the ceasefire call by the leaders of Boko Haram
on their field commanders, the video recording,
according to the chairman of Presidential
Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of
the security Challenge in the North, Barrister Turaki
Tanimu, was recorded two weeks ago in the detention facilities in Bauchi where the sect
members whom he said, belonged to the highest
decision making body of the Boko Haram sect
before their arrest by security forces in various
locations across the country. Speaking on the development, Barrister Tanimu
who was flanked by some members of the
committee, said, the video clip is a recording of
some members of the Jama'atul Ahli Sunnat
Nida'atul Waljihad, (Boko Haram) , 'who sat down
in Shura, the highest decision-making body and analyzed from purely Islamic perspective, taking
into account the clear and unambiguous provisions
of the Holy Qura'an and taken also into account the
teachings and fundamentally the practices of the
Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) on the issue of
dialogue and peaceful reconciliation; strengthening submissions again with the works of other Islamic
scholars globally who have had cause in their life
times to also make research and came out with a lot
of literature supporting the cause on dialogue and
stating the parameters and conditions under which
dialogue can take place. The chairman said the committee was still making
efforts towards meeting another set of senior
leaders of the group, and a splinter group – Ansaru
– even as he said he could not get confirmation
from the military operatives in Borno state to
confirm the death of the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau. Barrister Turaki admitted that there is no clear
nexus between this Shura committee and the
second-in-command with whom government
reportedly secured an earlier peace deal, or with
Shekau who is yet to be personally reached. In the Video which was shown to Journalists, five
members of the Shura committee of the sect who
spoke in Hausa and Arabic enjoined their
colleagues 'on the field' to embrace the dialogue
being proposed by government as both prophet
Mohammed and other Islamic scholars are in support of dialogue with infidels.

NSCDC Commandant Obafaiye Shem became
massively popular due to his Video that went
viral on the internet; 'Oga at the top', Channels
TV interview. In a recent interview with
National Mirror, Obafaiye Shem spoke about 'Oga at the top', his
new posting and even marriage. Excerpts: What is your assessment of the security
situation in Ibadan and Oyo State in general? The security situation in Oyo State is relatively
peaceful and I must tell you that the synergy
among the security agencies here is very superb.
We relate well; the Commissioner of Police carries
me on well and indeed refers to me as his brother. I
do the same to him. Anything that affects one affects all. At a time, there was a clash between my men and
the police. Immediately I told him about it, he
promptly took it up and resolved it. My bosses were
amazed. That's the level of rapport that exists
between us. How would you compare the work situation in
Lagos to the one in Oyo State? Lagos is very riotous. What I am trying to say is that
there is so much stress in Lagos State when
compared with a state like Oyo. Oyo State is a more
peaceful state. Ibadan is particularly peaceful. Life
here cannot, in any way, be compared with life in
Lagos. But just as God backed us up in Lagos, He is still doing the same here in Ibadan. The way He
made me succeed in Lagos, is the same way He has
started making a success of my work here in Oyo
State. My achievements have been positive. It has always
been my desire to do my best as much as possible
on this job and wherever I find myself, and God has
been good to me. This is what I always tell my
subordinates. Since all of us cannot be president;
we cannot all be Commandant General, we can all contribute our quota to the growth and
development of Nigeria in whichever corner we
find ourselves. This is what I always tell my subordinates. I always
tell them that if they are cleaners, they should clean
well. The Bible instructs us to do our job as unto the
Lord. We should do all with the fear of God. That is,
if no one is watching you, God is. My wish is to do
my best, to leave a good legacy behind for my generation and everyone coming after me. Would you rather work here or in Lagos? Our job is with the federal government. So, it is not
about where anyone prefers, it is about where we
are posted to. And the rule is that we must be ready
to work anywhere; we must adapt to whichever
environment we find ourselves. It is a service and
we must do it well at all times. There is nowhere I cannot work. You were posted to Ibadan shortly after the
"My Oga At the Top" interview. How about your
family? Did you move them down to Ibadan or
they are still in Lagos? They are here. They joined me barely a week after I
resumed here. It makes the job easier because
there won't be any divided loyalty. What are the challenges of your job? Life is a risk and so is every job. Our own job is no
exception. Even the Army, advanced as they are,
they still have challenges. In our own case, we are
making do with what the federal government has
been giving us. We have men on ground and with
good leadership, we are showing commitment and doing well. God has been very faithful. In the
course of our job, we arrest tankers with arms and
ammunition among other major things. We have
challenges, but they are minimal. How would you rate the success of the NSCDC so
far? Am I not too small to rate the NSCDC? Generally, I
would say, of all the agencies, ours is the closest to
the masses. We live with them, interact with them
and we have a good intelligence gathering
network. We are doing well in all ramifications. On
some different occasions, we are the first to get to scenes of fire incidences. In the area of disaster
management, we help manage situations, rescue
and rehabilitate. In the area of preventing the
activities of pipeline vandals, we are also doing
well. If I am to give a mark, I would give 75%. That
is an A. As security officer, what tips would you give to
individuals for safety? We must observe personal security in our homes. It
would be wrong to switch on your light before
leaving home; people should be conscious of
strangers around where they live; they need to call
the attention of neighbours if they see strange
faces; they should put bulbs in their surroundings to illuminate the environment. I would also advise
that you don't just leave your gate open. Your
security man should be registered with a security
outfit so that they will be able to capture his data. This is to enable them to trace him. It is risky and
not ideal to just employ somebody just because he
claimed to have worked as security officer in some
place before. He might have been sacked for one
misdemeanor or the other before or may even be
telling lie just to feed himself. He may not be able to handle the job and you may end up suffering for
this at the end of the day. And for those who
employ house helps, they must be careful of who
they leave their children with. A lot of underground
work need to be done to have these kids placed in
safe hands. What is your opinion about the Channels
Television interview that brought you instant
fame? I have nothing much to say other than to bless God
for everything. I thank God for all that happened; I
thank God for my boss, his support and love. He is a
good boss and I appreciate him. As far as I am
concerned all things work well for those who love
God and in all things, the Bible says we should praise God. The people that thought they were going to ruin
me did not know that they would end up in
announcing my destiny. In the history of humanity,
there had never been any human being that had
instant fame like I did especially in a case that was
meant to end negatively. My brother-in-law in London is even so excited about the incident that
he promised to assist me make big money out of
this supposed mess. He had already handed the
matter to an agency over there to trade mark "Oga
at the Top." But I just asked him to forget it. There is
no need for that. Many of my class mates are in top positions in
Nigeria currently, yet, they said I did not go to
school. I can mention a lot of them here, including
the Attorney General in Lagos State, Ipaye. But why should I do all that. All the same, I give all
the praises to God. It was not the first interview I
would be having with them (Channels Tv). After
that interview we shook hands and I even gave
them my complimentary card. I could see that they
were not really cheerful. If there was any effect, it was on them and not me. It was the same day I met
with Governor Fashola of Lagos State. Theirs took place in the morning and I met
Governor Fashola later in the day. Some people
believed they were up to something, but I did not
know. I was only being careful with words as a
security officer. We apply caution in all that we say
and do. It was a live programme, the whole world was watching us, so, I did not want to be too free. But like I said, I thank God for everything. I blame
nobody for anything; I see everything as an act of
God. They believe they would use it to destroy my
destiny but God turned everything around for me,
for the better. How did your family take the development? The day of the interview, 16th of March, 2013, was
the day my father was buried. It was as if it was
designed to destablise me on the day of the burial
of my father, but it was not so. It was three or four
days after that they apologised and said it was not
meant to embarrass me. Channels felt bad because it backfired. Anybody
that wants to go for an interview in Channels will be
very skeptical now and henceforth. I just felt it was
my time for divine announcement, so I did not take
it the way they thought I would take it. In fact, when I saw the T-shirt, I wanted to buy one.
Some had thought that my transfer to Ibadan was a
demotion, but they are wrong. It is not. They also
claimed that my wife went to Channels over the
issue. The question I asked was, to do what? She
did not. The whole thing has only turned around to be God's glory in my life. What is your philosophy of life and how did it
apply in the case of "My Oga At The Top" case? My philosophy of life is to impact positively on this
generation. I want to leave a legacy, a good and
worthwhile legacy behind that will not make my
family live or walk in fear when I am gone. I want
to sustain my good name; and that is what I preach
to my staff every day. I tell them to be open-minded; be determined; do
what you will do with your best ability whether
people are there or not. Note that there are people
watching you and your work will speak for you
when you are not there. This is what I always tell
them. What is the lesson to be learnt in your "Oga At
The Top" issue? Everyone should identify a lesson out of the whole
saga. What is your childhood ambition and where
were you born? My dream was to become a military person. In the
village, they called me a Soldier because of the way
I walk. Talking about where I was born, I was born
in Ayetoro Kiri in Kabba/Bunu local government
area of Kogi State. What influence do your parents have on your
life as an adult? My parents are very hard working and well-
disciplined. My father was a farmer and made us to
work on the farm as early as 4 a.m. and wouldn't
come back until 10 p.m. They were very strict. My
father was not that rich, but he was determined and
loved his children to go to school. The two of them are dead now but they left a good memory of
themselves behind. And you know like it used to
generally be in those years, we lived a communal
life. My father lived a very selfless life. He wished all
other children that were not even his own the best
that he wished for we his children. He wouldn't let
any child that he found at home when others were
in school be. That earned him the name- "Baba ki lo
n se n le." He would ensure that the reason why the child was not in school got fixed as much as
possible. This and others we learnt as we grew up. He taught
us the essence of hardwork. He was not rich, so, we
had to work on the farm very hard to get money to
take care of our school fees. My mother was also
hard-working. She was a strong-willed woman who was a
popular garri maker of her time. She died in 2009
while papa died in February 2013. They taught us
to be solution givers and we thank God that we are
on that path. He believed in the power of cane. I
remember a time that I and one of my brothers went to work in the farm and we covered so much
ground and without food. When he came, we
thought he was going to be excited and commend
us. He, instead, went wild when he found out we
did all that we did on empty stomach. He caned us
in anger. Would you recall any of your childhood pranks? I was a serious student in UNILAG and so wouldn't
joke with my books. I came from a poor family and
I didn't want to disappoint my parents and myself. I
think I entered the female hostel twice throughout
my undergraduate days. My success was more
important and I wouldn't want anything to distract me. How would you describe village life? It was a communal life. People do things together,
but in the city, they want to do it by themselves.
There were good and healthy foods in the village.
Everything was expressly from nature, the air,
water, vegetables and all. Even herbs came handy
for ailments that would have cost a fortune in the city. City life has caused crises to marriages whereas
this is not common in the village. There is a huge
difference between life in the village and in the city. What attracted you to your wife? She is beautiful and a good singer. She was leading
a chorus at a crusade when I first saw her. She is an
evangelist. How would you describe marriage? Marriage is a beautiful thing. That is the way I
would describe it. How do you unwind? I am married to my job and my wife complains
about that. When I am not working, I am in church.
The last time I went on leave was in 2009. What is your general advice for people? Let every individual do his work as ordained by
God, believing that he or she is accountable at the
end of the race. People should be contended with
what they have; they should use all their strength
to do whatever is given to them and wait on God
for reward. People should put their trust in God and not in human beings. Today, we have so many
people derailing because they expect so many
things from human beings. Wait for God at the
appointed time. Do what you are doing with the
fear of God