₦airaland Forum

On Saturday, the Green Party of Nigeria
(GPN) called on the Federal Governments
intervention in ending the persistent killing
across the country as soon as possible.
Mr Roy Oribhabor, Chairman of the Edo
State Chapter of the party, during an
interview with journalists in Benin on
Saturday said that it was a necessary call in
view of the recent killings in Benue state
claimed to have been perpetrated by Fulani
herdsmen.
Reports from newsmen claims that at least
eight states in the country are suffering
attacks from rampaging herdsmen. The
states include Enugu, Benue, Ekiti,
Adamawa, Imo, Zamfara, Kaduna and Delta
following the abduction and killings of His
Royal Majesty, Akaeze Ofulue III of the
Ubulu-Uku.
He described the Benue killing as
disheartening, saying it was the
responsibility of the government to as a
matter of urgency and concern, end the un-
ending destruction of lives and property of
Nigerians by their fellow countrymen.
The chairman of the party said the killings
were not only gruesome, unacceptable,
callous, inhuman and wicked, they should
be wholly and openly condemned and not
be politicised.
Oribhabor called on security operatives of
the country to uncover the masterminds
behind those killings.
He expressed the party’s empathy for the
families of those who lost their loved ones
in the killing episodes as well as the
governments of Benue, Rivers and Kwara.
The party chairman appealed to the
affected states government to declare a
state of emergency, especially in states with
high rate of unwanton killings, and urged
security agencies to get to the root of the
agenda behind the killings.
He said; “We are very well alarmed with
these killings, especially against the
background that the killings have now
shown the world that life is not valued in
Nigeria.”
Our dear nation is now a banana republic
where people can just wake up and take
someone else’s life without having second
thoughts.
This is the reason why we as a party is
calling on the Federal Government to be
more proactive than reactive to this matter
of senseless killing across the country.

Source: journalng.com

https://journalng.com/2018/01/06/fgn-urges-fg-put-halt-senseless-killings-nigeria/

Social media giants, Twitter, has said it will
not ban Donald Trump’s account despite his
provocative tweets.
Just this week, Trump issued a threat to
North Korea, telling it’s president Kim Jon
Un that he’s not the sole owner of Nuclear
weapons around the world and that he
(Trump) has bigger and powerful functional
nukes.
Trump was reacting to a statement made
by Kim Jong Un in a livebroadcast by North
Korea state TV.
The North Korean leader has said;
“The US should know that the button for
nuclear weapons is on my desk. This is not
blackmail but reality​,” “The entire area of
the US mainland is within our nuclear strike
range​.​
“The US can never start a war against me
and our country. These weapons will be
used only if our security is threatened,” he
said.
In a spate of surging negative reactions
which included Congress members calling
for a debilitation of the president’s
authority on Nuclear strikes, Twitter was
urged to proscribe provocative and abusive
speeches that could incite international
conflict.
In a post entitled “World Leaders on
Twitter,” the site said
“Blocking a world leader from Twitter or
removing their controversial Tweets, would
hide important information people should
be able to see and debate”.
“It would also not silence that leader, but it
would certainly hamper necessary
discussion around their words and
actions,” the post said.

Source: journalng.com

https://journalng.com/2018/01/06/cant-ban-trump-provocative-speeches-twitter-explains/

On Saturday, the Taraba Police Command confirmed the burial of four persons in Jalingo following an early morning attack by an armed militia on three Fulani communities in Lau Local Government Area of the State. Though a resident of one of the affected communities informed reporters that 15 people were buried at the Jalingo cemetery. ASP David Misal, Police Public Relations Officer in the state, said that the identity of those behind the attack is yet to be ascertained. The Police spokesman called for peace and maintained that security agencies were looking into the incident and that residents should be patient, the perpetrators would be arrested and prosecuted if found guilty. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) got report that the attack was staged at about 6 a.m on January 6 . The affected villages includes Babagasa, Donadda and Kabtibu, which shared a common boundary with Adamawa. One of the residents of Katibu, Mallam Bello Isa, who managed to escape the scene of the attack told NAN that many of his village people were killed and houses torched too. He said that bodies of the 15 persons killed in the attcks were recovered and buried at about 10 a.m in the Jalingo Cemetary. Bello recounted that many people including women and children are still missing, saying that he is yet to see security agents deployed to the area. He said; ‘The heavily armed militia men, who were identified as Bachama and Nyandang people, came to our village at 6 a.m today and said that their cows were stolen, before we could say anything, they started shooting us and torching houses.’ We as residents of that area have no disagreement with our neighbours who Nyadang, we are Fulani by tribe but not herders, yet they attacked for no just cause. One of the Donada village residents, Malam Kallamu Mohammed, who also fled with gunshot wounds, said they were pinned down by the militia of whom were suspected to be Bachama and Nyandang villagers, on early Saturday morning. He said that the militia men were heavily armed arrived the area on motorcycles and started shooting sporadically, torching houses and looting properties in the process.
Source: journalng.com
https://journalng.com/2018/01/07/15-killed-early-morning-attacks-taraba-state/

George Weah, Liberian President-elect, is all
set for his election victory Thanksgiving at
T. B Joshua’s Synagogue Church of All
Nations.
A top source revealed to Sun that the
Liberian president’s visit is to express
gratitude to God for the aftermath of the
run-off election that emerged him
victorious as president elect.
In October last year, George Weah had gone
to the SCOAN ahead of the election to
worship with them on a Sunday Service in
company of ex-liberian warlord and
incumbent Senator, Prince Yormie Johnson.
Prophet T.B Joshua, had during Weah’s visit,
announced that God had choosen him to
lead the Liberian people.
Prophet Joshua had said, “My brother is
here today because he loves his country. He
is not here to impose himself. What does
God say about his country, Liberia? What is
God’s opinion? That is why he is here.
“We are not herbalists or witch doctors, we
are people of God. God’s choice is our
choice. We cannot pray against God’s will.”
Weah was said to have had an exclusive
meeting with Prophet Joshua in which the
latter assured him that his victory in the
November 7 rescheduled run-off election
was a fait accompli.

Source: journalng.com


https://journalng.com/2018/01/06/george-weah-hold-thanksgiving-synagogue-church-nations/

The community of Ikwo in Ebonyi State was
thrown into mourning on Thursday, when
a 30 year old man, Obinna Igwe, a resident,
was shot dead in a fracas that broke out
during a football match, with two others
sustaining gunshot wounds.
Football fans were said to have clashed
with policemen stationed at the field.
The casualties included two police officers
who were deployed to the venue of the
match which took place at Urban Secondary
School Ndufu Echara Ikwo.
The football match was the climax of the
Unity Cup competition between Ndufu Alike
and Ndufu Echara Teams which was
organised by the Chairman of Ikwo Local
Government Area, Elder John Nnabo.
An eyewitness who withheld his name,
informed reporters at the scene that the
trouble started when the issued an Ndufu
Alike player a red card, this eventually
resulted in his team conceding a goal in the
other half of the match.
He explained that the dismissed refused to
settle for less, so he re-entered the pitch
and attacked the referee along with his
team mates from the bench.
He also alleged the clash resulted in a brawl.
Some of the youths of Ikwo then targeted
law enforcement agents, engaging them in
a fight, until some public office holders in
the area stepped in.
Mr Onyekachi Nwoba, a resident reacted to
the incident, condemning the use of live
ammunition by the police, saying that it was
against the rules of engagement.
The Ebonyi State Police Public Relations
Officer, Lovet Odah, when contacted,
claimed that the victim was killed when the
rampaging youth attempted to snatch a
rifle from one of the policemen..
The News Agency of Nigeria quoted Odah
as saying that several people were injured
during the fracas on Thursday.
‘The Ikwo Police Division received a
distress call that the fans were assaulting
the referee and our officers led by the
Divisional Police Officer rushed to the match
venue.’
‘When they tried to rescue the referee from
the fans’ onslaught, the fans left the referee
and started attacking our officers.’
They started struggling with officers’ rifles
and when they collected one, the DPO fired
into the air to scare them and save his
officers.
One person was incidentally shot during
the melee as the fans thoroughly prepared
to attack us by arming themselves with
dangerous weapons.

Source: journalng.com

https://journalng.com/2018/01/06/1-person-killed-2-policemen-wounded-ebonyi-football-violence/

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), on Thursday, disclosed that it will begin the transmission of a Hausa Radio service station on Saturday. The group’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, revealed this in a statement in Awka, Anambra State. Emma Powerful said that the move was due to the promise of IPOB to facilitate the creation of an unbiased information to the poor and oppressed indigenous nothern population of Nigeria. The Elites and ruling class have cleverly enslaved and impoverished the ethnic population in the North by keeping them away from vital information and knowledge. This information is what Radio Biafra, Hausa service has come to solve. He said, All antecedent hidden history of the conquest of indigenous people of Hausa descent in the North will be revealed to the whole world. And most importantly, enslaved people of Arewa North, brutally savaged by Fulani herdsmen, will acquire the vital education needed to liberate them from the suffocating stranglehold of the caliphate elite, through this unbiased medium. Our aim of inaugurating this liberation radio station is to prove beyond doubt that IPOB is not just concerned about itself and its movement for Biafrans, but also geniunely concerned about the sufferings of all oppressed people in Nigeria as stated by our leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, times without numbers.
Source: journalng.com
https://journalng.com/2018/01/05/ipob-kick-off-hausa-radio-service-saturday/

Aero Airline noted that its maintenance
check on a plane in its fleet was the first
ever C-check to be carried out on a wide
bodied aircraft since the extermination of
the Nigeria Airways in 2004.
Airline operators have reported that C-
checks mostly done outside the country
have been a major problem because of the
high cost of $1 million per aircraft.
They said that engineers started working
on the aircraft less than a month ago and
have completed the check successfully.
Captain Ado Sanusi, the managing director
of Aero Contractors Limited, said that the
engineers of the airline repaired the aircraft
while a verification flight was carried out by
it’s pilots, also stating that the management
was very pleased with the results.
He stated that the successful completion of
the verification process of the aircraft was a
huge milestone not just for the airline but
also for the entire aviation industry in the
country.
Sanusi said that this achievement would
end the prospect of Nigerian airlines flying
their aircrafts abroad for maintenance. And
that this outcome would be very beneficial
to the entire country.
According to Sanusi, the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority in the last quarter of
2017 had approved the airline’s hangar to
carry out C-checks on Boeing 737 aircraft,
the commonly used commercial plane used
for flight operations in the country.
He added that after the check, the aircraft
was then put up for verification flight
which made everyone happy about the
result. This would be the first time this is
happening in the country. The results we
got in the country are more satisfying than
what we got when we take our airplanes
abroad for checks, he said. Our engineers
are feeling fulfilled and we are equally
satisfied, his words.

Source: journalng.com

https://journalng.com/2018/01/05/aero-airline-completes-nigerias-first-c-check-aircraft-14-years/

The Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose, has said that at the end of his poltical career as president of Nigeria he will become a pastor of a great ministry. Fayose told newsmen in Lagos that; “I am a force God has created at this time. When I retire, I’m going to become a pastor with a very big ministry. The governor also declared himself at the disposal of the federal government if they wish to arrest him. He said; “If the federal government wants to go after me, I am more than available. They know my address, I’m in Magodo now, and tomorrow I’m going to Ekiti. I’m available for them. Those who keep their lives will still lose it,” “One pastor said the federal government will bundle Fayose this year, and so? Let them come and do it, who is begging them? I’m equally prepared,” he said. “I remember Gani Fawehimi, he goes around with his bag. You can arrest him any day, what is the big deal? Some people, their promotion will come as a result of oppression. Our enemies are not our enemies in totality, they are catalysts to our success so I don’t care. On his pastoral future he said; “There is nobody reasonably who doesn’t know who Ayo Fayose is and the decision to me being president is spiritual and physical on the other hand because when your time comes, it will manifest. “I am a force God has created at this time. When I retire, I’m going to become a pastor with a very big ministry.After being president of Nigeria, I will be a pastor who will be a major force all over the world. “Nigerians know that if I give you figures, they find it like that even my prophecies. Some of the things I said about last year came to pass. Some people have been calling me to ask for the prophecies for 2018,”
source: journalng.com
https://journalng.com/2018/01/04/will-become-pastor-political-career-elapses/

According to reports, Winner of the 2018 edition of the Big Brother Naija will be entitled to a whooping N45m take home cash. The third season of the reality show is billed for Sunday, January 28. It will premiere with a special two-hour episode on DStv channel 198 and GOtv channel 29. The previous edition saw Efe emerge as the winner which shot him to stardom alongside his runners up. It was recorded as one of the most successful reality TV shows in Nigeria and across the continental borders. The third season promises to be very tantalizing for the winner who will smile home with N45 million Naira including all the associated perogatives. The show will be sponsored again by online store merchants payporte and Ebuka Obi- Uchendu still retains his position as host of the show.
Source: journalng.com
https://journalng.com/2018/01/05/winner-big-brother-naija-3-go-home-n45million/

Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar,
reassured Nigerians that the military would completely
annihilate Boko Haram, their activities and other
criminal elements in the Niger Delta region.
To meet his target, he urged the military men,
especially field commanders to maintain the current
tempo, to enable them actualize the task. He spoke to
newsmen briefing them on the fight against insurgency.
Captain of the Group, Gabriel Ochai, who lost his life in
an air accident involving a NAF Air Beetle aircraft on
August 24, 2017 and Wing Commander Chimda Hedima,
who died in Borno State during battle with Boko Haram
in September 2014.
While Speaking at a workshop yesterday, for newly
posted field commanders and award for most dedicated
personnel, including civilian staff, which held at the
Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, Abuja, Chief of Air
Staff, Air Marshal Abubakar, said his organisation was
looking forward to a complete annihilation of not just
the Boko Haram insurgents but also the militants in
Niger Delta.
The captain insisted that imminent defeat of the two
groups had become inevitable for the military to ensure
that the labour of Nigeria’s past heroes was not in vain
and further tasked the newly posted field commanders
to ensure that they keep the country peaceful and
secured in the face of the current security challenges in
the country.
Abubakar regretted that the country was facing series
of problems threatening to destroy the country’s
foundation as laid by its founding fathers.
The workshop was aimed at equipping the new and
also reminding older Commanders of their duties in line
with the Nigerian Air Force expectation.
The CAS also said that the honour to the personnel
was aimed at “celebrating our personnel that have
demonstrated courage, resilience, commitment,
ingenuity and dedication to service within the purview
of their assigned tasks.”

source: journalng.com

https://journalng.com/2018/01/04/boko-haram-millitants-will-soon-completely-annihilated-cas/

The Managing Director of Kakatar Construction and
Engineering Limited, Azibaola Robert are not involved in
any scam involving the diversion of monies meant to
settle insurance premium of sacked defunct Power
Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) workers, Mr Austin
Ekeinde, the company’s spokesman said.
He clarified the issue following allegations that Kakatar
CE Limited was part of an alleged diversion of
insurance premium payments of PHCN workers.
Mr Azibaola Robert is a cousin of the former President
Goodluck Jonathan.
According to report, a sworn affidavit for forfeiture order
filed at the High Court by an officer of the Economic
and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) claimed that
his company, Kakatar CE, partaked in illegal payments
of PHCN workers which the company disputed.
Mr Ekeinde while speaking with reporters in Abuja said
that ‘An affidavit issued to him by an EFCC officer for a
forfeiture order clearly misinterpreted the facts. The
obvious fact is that Kakatar CE took a N2.5 billion
facility from Bestworth Insurance Brokers Limited to
fund a Federal Government contract we won to provide
infrastructure for Kyami District, Abuja.
He said that it was on due to the fact of documentary
evidence the EFCC requested that the facility be repaid
to it to enable it recoup the payment to Bestworth. It
was due to the fact that we commenced repayment
through the EFFC to Besthworth. This does not relate
to the issue of scam or fraud in this matter.
Kakatar CE on December 12, 2014 won a contract to
provide engineering infrastructure for Kyami District
which we were required to move to site to commence
work immediately.
We were unable to secure a favourable credit facility
from any bank, we were offered help by Bestworth
Insurance to provide us a project execution facility with
mutually agreed terms upon which we moved to site
immediately. It’s quite unfortunate that the Federal
Government has been unable to pay it’s statutory
mobilization fee of over N7.5 billion due to Kakatar CE.
Sometime last year, EFCC informed us that they are
investigating Bestworth for alleged diversion of
insurance premiums of PHCN workers, they also invited
us.
That was when our N2.5 billion facility became an
issue. There is not a law that says a corporate
organization cannot take a facility from another
corporate organization.
Because of the documentary evidence which the EFCC
requested that the facility be repaid to it to enable it
reclaim the payment to Bestworth, this does not have
anything to do with the scm or fraud in that case.

source: journalng.com

https://journalng.com/2018/01/04/phcn-scam-jonathans-cousin-not-part-n27-billion-scam-engineering-firm/

No fewer than three youths and students were killed on Wednesday following protests against the recent invasion by Fulani herdsmen on Benue communities, this has led to death of over 50 people in Logo and Guma Local Government Area of the state. The circumstances though are yet to be ascertained, the state police command through it’s Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Assistant Superintendent (ASP), Moses said he hasn’t yet received reports concerning the deaths. In a statement by the Chief Secretary, CPS to the Benue State Governor, Mr Terver Akase said that the Governor has ordered security agencies to carry out thorough investigation into the attack on protesting students which led to the loss of three lives earlier today in Markudi. The statement says; Governor Ortom commiserates with the families of the victims, describing the attack on the youths as callous to the current state of the people who are grieving over the murder of innocent persons by armed herdsmen in Guma and Logo LGA of the state. He condemned the attacks and assured the people that the State Government wil make sure that those responsible for the death of the three youths are brought to justice. Governor Ortom pleaded to the people of the state remain calm and resist the urge to take laws into their hands as the State Government kepps exploring every lawful means to maintain peace in the communities affected by the herdsmen attack.
source: journalng.com
https://journalng.com/2018/01/04/3-youths-killed-benue-protest/

Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Benue State Comrade Abba Yaro has described the gruesome murder of over 50 Benue people by the Fulani herdsmen as an act of war. In a Statement issued in Abuja, Yaro lamented that the killing might precipitate another civil war in Nigeria, insisting that, it is a sheer attempt of ethnic cleansing around the Benue Valley which must be brought to an end without delay. He called on Benue sons and daughters irrespective of their political divides to rise up to the occasion and defend their land. Yaro also made a call to President Muhammadu Buhari to call the Fulani herdsmen to order and detail security agents to bring the perpetrators of such evil acts to book. “This is above Party politics, it is human lives, how can you kill a pregnant woman and removed the unborn child yet slaughtered it? It is barbaric, unspeakable and generally unpalatable”. He said the Anti Open Grazing Law in Benue is not biased towards any set of people but for security of Benue State, a measure to contain cattle rustling and a lasting remedy to herders/farmers clash. “The implementation is ongoing and we are in support of our governor, we are not deterred, the Anti Open Grazing Law has come to stay. “Nigerians should not see the killings as a Benue problem but National crisis, the absence of peace in Benue is an absence of peace in Nigeria. “We must treat it as a national ethnic cleansing by the Fulanis and collectively pressurize Mr President to put an end to it. If Boko Haram can be defeated, IPOB stopped, Fulani killings can be stopped”, he observed. He further called on the Army, DSS and other relevant authorities to intervene into the situation else they (Benue people) will take laws into their hands. “we rise in self defence, which will amount to the second civil war. “if the Fulanis are not called to order by the relevant authorities to stop the ethnic cleansing, like the lawless Fulanis are doing, Benue people shall take laws into their hands in selfdefense”.

Source: journalng.com

https://journalng.com/2018/01/03/benue-apc-reacts-killings-says-act-war/

On Tuesday, the parallel market saw the Nigerian Naira
closing at 363 per USD, which was the same rate it
closed before the holidays.
The Naira which have been fluctuating around 365 per
USD for some months now, rocketed to 364 per USD as
the Christmas holiday approached.
It later rose to 364 per USD before closing at 363 per
dollar on Friday.
Though it had been predicted by Foreign Exchange
traders and currency analysts that the Naira would be
stable during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
They claimed that regular interventions of the Central
Bank of Nigeria by injecting dollars into the market
would dissuade currently speculators from making a bet
on the Naira.
Investors and Exporters FX Window, shows the Naira
fluctuating at 360 per USD, while it was quoted at
306.05 at the official market, which is the level the
Central Bank has been intervening.
Dollars are been injected into the forex market, weekly
by the Central Bank of Nigeria in the last couple of
months.
The Association of Bureau De Change’s President, Alhaji
Aminu Gwadabe, has however cautioned that spending
by politicians ahead of the 2019 general elections may
cause instability of the Naira.
He said that the tendency to amass dollars which is to
be spent on political campaigns by politicians is not
new to the nation’s political history.
Gwadabe said; Politicians spending money may affect
the exchange rate stability in 2018. Electioneering
starts early this time and the susceptibility of people to
to amass dollars which would be spent on political
campaigns is not new.
He therefore called on regulatory bodies, security
operatives to make sure that currency caches and and
speculators don’t leverage the 2019 elections to erode
the gains recorded in the nation’s foreign exchange
market.
He noted that about $8 billion has been splashed out
by the CBN for intervention purposes at the forex
market, which lead to flattening of rates across board.
According to him, BDC operators who are very critical
stakeholders in the forex market are focused on p
laying
by the rules in ensuring that Naira retains its stability.
Since February, the CBN responded swiftly when the
Naira rose to N520 per USD, thus ensuring that it
retained it’s stability at about N363 per USD.
Attempts by the CBN and critical stakeholders like BDC,
led to the convergence of rates between the BDC
segment and the parallel market.
For now, most African major currencies will retain a
steady level as foreign markets remain sluggish over
the holidays.

source: journalng.com

https://journalng.com/2018/01/03/new-year-nigerian-naira-closes-363-per-usd-holidays/