TODAYS NEWS Some captured Boko Haram suspects (sitting) and one of the vehicles seized from them by soldiers ... on Monday. Soldiers attack B’Haram camp, seize 700 vehicles- Punch The Special Forces involved in the ongoing campaign against the Boko Haram insurgents have recorded what security sources have described as one the greatest breakthroughs in the campaign against terrorists in the North-East. Investigations on Tuesday revealed that the Special Forces, comprising ground troops and the Air Force fighters, had demobilized one of the strongest fortresses of the Boko Haram sect. It was learnt that the soldiers, who carried out the operation, were shocked by the volume of arms and ammunition and hundreds of operational vehicles that they captured at the camp. A source put the number of vehicles captured from the insurgents at 700 while several members of the sect were arrested. The spokesman of the 7th Division, Col. Mohammed Dole, referred our correspondent to the Director of Defence Information, Maj.-Gen Chris Olukolade, for comments on the issue. L -R: Vice-President Namadi Sambo ; President Goodluck Jonathan; National Chairman ,Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Adamu The Gang-up Against PDP Will Fail, Jonathan Declares at Kaduna Rally- ThisDay Mu’azu, and Chaiman, Board of Trustees (BoT), PDP, Chief Anthony Anenih at the North-west rally of the party in Kaduna...yesterday • Meets Kaduna monarchs, South-west govs in Aso Rock • Emir of Zazzau calls for resuscitation of NIREC Jaiyeola Andrews and John Shiklam In what looked like the commencement of a campaign by another name, President Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday declared that the several gang-ups against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the opposition parties would fail, as they had always done in the past. Jonathan, who spoke in Kaduna during what the party tagged “Unity Rally” for the North-west zone, noted that since 1999, several political parties had always connived to work against the fortunes of the PDP during elections, but have serially failed, stressing that no amount of gang-up by the opposition could erode the electoral fortune of the party. “We have been told that some people are ganging up in some different names. I can assure you, don’t be bothered about any gang-up. This is not the first time that there has been a gang up. From 1999, there was a gang-up. Two, three political parties came together. They brought presidential candidate from one (of the parties) and Vice-Presidential candidate from one other party. The gang-up will fail. Jonathan, who drew an allegory between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and combustible products, declared that the APC was like an assemblage of inflammable chemicals. Women and children gather into a car’s trunk as villagers flee the village of Jakana, outside Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria, on March 6, 2014. 57, 000 Nigerians now refugees – UN- Vanguard Despite the fact that Nigeria is not at war, Nigerians are now refugees in neighbouring countries as more than 57,000 people have fled to Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic as a result of insurgency by Boko Haram, according to the United Nations. The world body also disclosed that about half a million people have been internally displaced in the country which it described as a very alarming situation. Spokesperson of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, Mr Adrian Edwards, who spoke with reporters in Geneva said of 57,000 people who fled Nigeria, 17,000 are registered as Nigerians while the rest are nationals from neighbouring countries who have been living in Nigeria for ages. Boko Haram members ‘Nigeria yet to protest lack of support by neighbours over Boko Haram’- Guardian • U.S. raises fears over attacks • Reps suspend session to mourn slain students • Task force captures wounded, fleeing terrorists • Three policemen, others feared missing in ambush Despite alleged unwillingness of some countries bordering Nigeria to collaborate in arresting Boko Haram insurgents, who reports say find safe haven in such countries, Nigeria is yet to formally protest to the African Union (AU), The Guardian learnt Tuesday. Meanwhile, the United States (U.S.) Consular-General in Nigeria, Mr. Jeffrey Hawkins, yesterday expressed fears that the terrorist activities in the northern part of the country may affect the 2015 polls. In a related development, the House of Representatives yesterday suspended its session to mourn the death of 59 students of the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi, Yobe State, who were murdered in cold blood, and other victims of the recent onslaught perpetrated by the Boko Haram insurgents. Telcos move to curb rising consumer mobile security threats- BusinessDay Holders of Nigeria’s 120 million mobile lines see operators as being predominantly responsible for protecting them from a range of security threats to which they are increasingly vulnerable as the penetration of smartphones and mobile broadband rises, according to a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media. Twenty-five percent of the country’s mobile subscription base uses smartphones, says TNS, a global market research firm, adding that 47 million mobile data users are currently on telecommunications operators’ network in the country. According to the report, telecommunications operators are partnering with security software providers to provide their subscribers with parental control capabilities as well as protection against threats such as malware, phishing, fraud, spam and the theft or loss of their devices. BusinessDay gathered that operators such as MTN, Airtel, and Etisalat are working in earnest with mobile security vendors such as McAfee, Kapaskey, Symantec, and Gemalto in multiple markets. “The growing penetration of smartphones and mobile broadband has led to the situation where subscribers are finding themselves at risk from a range of potential threats, particularly smartphone subscribers with Android devices,” said the report’s author, Pamela Clark-Dickson, senior analyst, Mobile Content and Applications at Informa. Android-based devices were forecast to make up the highest share of the 1.02 billion smartphones sold globally in 2013, at 63 percent, or 643.6 million devices, according to Informa’s Future Mobile Handsets Interactive Forecast Tool, 2012-2018 (August 2013). Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke Refineries must be privatised, says Alison-Madueke- Punch Contrary to denials by the Presidency, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Deziani Alison-Madueke, said on Tuesday that the privatisation of the nation’s refineries remained the best way to tackle the problems in the petroleum sector. Alison-Madueke stated this when she appeared before the Joint Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream, Downstream and Gas) to defend her ministry’s 2014 budget estimates in company with senior officials of the ministry and heads of agencies under her supervision. She, however, said the Federal Government was continuing with the rehabilitation of the refineries, improvement of facilities and provision of enabling environment for operators in both the upstream and downstream sectors. The minister said the process of privatisation would have been concluded if the various trade unions within the petroleum industry had not kicked against the action. “The way forward is the privatisation of the refineries because the government should not be involved in the business of fuel sales,” she said. The minister assured Nigerians that the Federal Government would in the next few weeks flood filling stations with petrol in order to arrest the current scarcity. Gov Olusegun Mimiko Contract Workers Shut down Ondo Town- ThisDay Contract workers of the Ondo Business District (OBD) office of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), located along Brigadier Ademulegun Road in Ondo town, Tuesday disrupted economic activities in the office following a protest over alleged non-payment of their five months salaries. The workers, mostly those in the security department of the organisation, shut gates leading to the office, while discussing the issue in hush tones. The leader of the workers, Mr. Oluwole Olowu, who claimed to be the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the company, said they embarked on the protest to demand the payment of their five months salary. The workers numbering about 40, dressed in the uniform of Nigerian Legion, carried placards to decry the situation. The placards had inscriptions such as: ‘BEDC pay us our salary’, ‘Our children are hungry’, ‘We want to pay our children school fees’ and ‘we want to pay our house rents’ among others. Olowu said the workers had wrote to the company informing the management of their action. He further explained that they had also written to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Yaba Police station in Ondo town to inform him ahead of the protest. Black market thrives as fuel scarcity hits Lagos. Fuel scarcity: NNPC can only supply 50% of Nigeria’s needs – IPMAN– Vanguard The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, yesterday blamed the lingering nationwide fuel scarcity on the failure of the Federal Government to pay marketers for petrol imported into the country in the third and fourth quarters of last year. President of IPMAN, Abdulkadir Aminu who disclosed while addressing members at the expanded meeting of national executive and zonal coordinators in Abuja, said also that the current contraction in the supply of the products is a result of none payment of marketers subsidy. Aminu warned that the current fuel scarcity will not decline because there was a supply gap due to the fact that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, which is now the sole importer of fuel can only supply 50 percent of the country needs. EFCC arraigns Ajudua for allegedly defrauding Bamaiyi of N1b- Guardian • Edo ex-SSG remanded over alleged scam The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday arraigned Fred Ajudua before Justice Oluwatoyin Ipaye of a Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, for defrauding a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ishaya Bamaiyi, of about $8.395 million. The EFCC had filed the 14-count charge earlier this year against him but the trial could not commence following Ajudua’s application, which challenged the competence of the charge. Ajudua, who is also facing a similar fraud trial in another court, had insisted that the court had no jurisdiction to try him since he was charged under the repealed Advance-Fee-Fraud Act. He also argued that Bamaiyi should stand trial along with him for admitting in his statement to the EFCC that he attempted to bribe a sitting judge. 42% Nigerians are satisfied with their personal wellbeing – NOIPolls– BusinessDay Latest NOIPolls surveys suggest that 42% of Nigerians are satisfied with their personal wellbeing while 80% are optimistic about their personal state and the economy. The surveys are in two categories. The first one is the Personal Well-Being Index (PWBI) and the second one is the Consumer Confidence Index (CCI). “The PWBI measures factors impacting on the lives of everyday Nigerians, thereby producing a complete view of the individual’s personal well being.” “The CCI provides consumers’ assessments of the economic situation and their intentions/expectations for the future.” Though the PWBI indicates a 42% general satisfaction level, the independent indices in this poll category imply that people are more satisfied with certain areas of their life than with other areas. For instance, 86% of the poll respondents said they were satisfied with their religion while 49% said they were satisfied with their standard of living. Oscar Pistorius Oscar Pistorius friend takes stand about gun incidents in murder trial– CNN A friend of Oscar Pistorius who was with him twice when guns went off in the South African track stars hands was back on the stand testifying against him Wednesday. Prosecutors trying to convict Pistorius of murdering his girlfriend, the model Reeva Steenkamp, have charged him with breaking gun laws on both occasions. The incidents were not connected to the fatal shooting of Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentines Day 2013. Prosecutors appear to be using them to demonstrate that Pistorius is not safe around guns. Pistorius grinned and shook his head as the friend, Darren Fresco, testified Wednesday about speeding during an incident that ended with the track star firing a shot out the sunroof of the car. Pistorius was driving about 200 kilometers per hour, Fresco said. A day earlier, he had said Pistorius was furious that police had handled his gun in one of the incidents, and later fired a shot out the sunroof of the car Fresco was driving. Fresco also testified about an incident at Tashas Restaurant, where Pistorius is accused of asking him to take the blame after he discharged Frescos pistol under the table one month before Steenkamps death.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 08:37:43 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015