Explosions, gunfire rock Potiskum

Click banner for more info

Heavy explosions and gunfire rocked Potiskum in Yobe State on Wednesday, residents said, after violence this week left at least 24 people dead in the sister city of Maiduguri in Borno State.

Blasts and shootings shook residents of the town, previously hit hard by violence blamed on the extremist group Boko Haram, residents told Agence France Presse.

Yobe State Commissioner of Police, Patrick Egbuniwe, said there had been a bomb explosion and security forces afterward cordoned off the area and began house-to-house searches.

He did not say whether there had been any casualties.

“There was a bomb explosion this morning and the Joint Task Force has already cordoned off the area for the safety of residents,” Egbuniwe said, referring to a military and police task force.

“Right now, there is a house-to-house search by JTF to fish out the perpetrators of the terror attack.”

Residents said the unrest began just before 6a.m.

“It started with a huge explosion followed by successive blasts and gunfire,” one resident told AFP.
The blasts and gunfire came from an area of the town where a bank, a military base and the office of the anti-narcotics agency are located, residents said.

On Tuesday, Nigeria’s military said 24 Boko Haram members were killed in violence that rocked the city of Maiduguri, Borno State after the extremists launched attacks with bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.

The military has been regularly accused of abuses, including the killing of civilians. Tuesday’s statement said there were no civilian casualties and one soldier was wounded, but the claims could not be independently verified.

Maiduguri is considered the base of Boko Haram. The conflict is believed to have killed at least 2,800 people since 2009.

More Stories in News

Source : punchng[dot]com

Police dismiss sergeant for ordering killing of UNIPORT students

Click banner for more info

The Nigerian Police Force has dismissed a Sergeant identified as Lucky Orji for allegedly instigating a mob to kill four students of the University of Port Harcourt on October 5, 2012 in Aluu in Rivers State.

Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, told Channels Television on Wednesday morning during a breakfast programme, “Sunrise,” that Orji’s dismissal followed Tuesday’s confession by one of the suspected killers, David Chinasa Ugbaje.

The students were set upon by a mob in Aluu, a community close to the university, and lynched.

They were later identified as 19-year-old Lloyd Toku ( 200 level Civil Engineering); 18-year-old Ugonna Obuzor (200 level  Geology student); 20-year-old Chiadika Biringa, (200 level Theatre Arts student); and Tekena Erikena, a 20-year-old  a diploma (Technical) student by the management of the university.

The police, on Monday, had named Coxson Lucky, alias Bright, as the mastermind of the lynching.

Lucky, who was said to owe one of the students an undisclosed sum of money, reportedly raised the alarm that the students were robbers when they went to his house to demand for the money.

The mob, which converged on the venue of the altercation, then beat and burn the students to death.

Mba said the discovery was made after the police carried out an internal investigation, adding that he would also be tried for murder.

The dismissed policeman and a colleague were alleged to have stumbled upon the angry mob beating the students, Mba said.

“The officers were not even sent to the scene; he (sergeant) went on his own, outside the code of conduct and professional ethics of the job.

“One was professional to ask the mob to stop and the other asked them to continue,” he said.

He said the fact that the police were prepared to prosecute Orji was a measure of its resolve to put an end to all forms of impunity in the Nigerian Police

He said mob attacks were not peculiar to Nigeria, adding, “It is something we must work together to review. Nigerians must not be quick to heap the blame on the police alone.”

He insisted that, like other agencies in the country, the police force also had persons of questionable character.

“f you recruit an officer, the person carries the family value around. We need reorientation from the families and to the various worship centres.

“We must look at the content our mass media is dishing out, we have to review all this,” Mba said.

More Stories in News

Source : punchng[dot]com

FAAN warns travellers on Abuja airport taxis

Click banner for more info

Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria has warned travellers and visitors to be cautious when boarding airport taxis in Abuja in view of the new wave of security threat posed by some illegal taxi drivers.

FAAN’s Regional General Manager at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, Mr. Chris Bature, gave the warning in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja.

He said, however,  that security measures put in place by FAAN and other security agencies at the airport had reduced the activities of  fraudsters and touts at the airport.

Bature said that FAAN’s security operatives had discovered that fraudsters had devised a new system known as “one-chance,” where a taxi driver would carry passengers from the airport and rob them on the way.

The FAAN official advised travellers to make use of registered taxi drivers or official car-hire taxis with evidence of registration or FAAN identification cards upon arrival and when departing the airport.

Bature said that the rate of crimes at the airport had drastically reduced, due to the activities of security agents, following the measures initiated by the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah, to make Nigeria’s airports safe and secure for travellers.

“The frequency of suspects arrested at the airport has dropped because we are working tirelessly in conjunction with the Air Force, Police and other security officials to apprehend criminals day and night to secure the airport.

“Presently, the security challenge at the airport is that of ‘one-chance,’ where illegal taxis carry passengers and along the way, they will push out the passengers and do away with their belongings.

“We are advising member of the public to use the official airport taxis if they must use commercial vehicles from the airport to avoid ugly incidents,” Bature said.

A document given to NAN by the FAAN Crime and Investigation Bureau, showed that 180 suspects were arrested between June and October this year for offences ranging from drug peddling, illegal car hire operation, stealing, touting and ticket-racketing.

Four suspects, Kenechukwu Eze, Mohamadu Abdulkadir, Keneth Udo and Emmanuel Igwe, were arrested on Wednesday for illegal car hire operation and were handed over to the police for prosecution.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Commander at the airport, Mr. Lawal Hamisu, also revealed that the number of drug traffickers arrested at the airport had reduced by half in comparison with 2011.

He told NAN that the number decreased, following the installation of modern scanners at the airport between January and June.

Hamisu had said that only five suspected drug peddlers were arrested at the airport as against the average of 10 monthly in 2011 before the installation of the screening equipment.

“We arrested a minimum of 10 drug barons monthly in previous years but since the beginning of this year, it has gone so low that in a month, there may not even be an arrest,” he said.

More Stories in News

Source : punchng[dot]com

Photo Of The ALUU UNIPORT Student Killers, People That Clubbed And Burnt Them

Click banner for more info

This is the exclusive photos of the suspects that beat the four innocent students to death, God help us in this country, every criminal look pitiful and innocent once they are arrested:

LP urges transparency as stage set for Ondo gov poll

Click banner for more info

Chairman of the Labour Party in the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Adejobi Peter, has called on INEC to be transparent in the discharge of its functions as preparations for the Ondo State governorship election gather momentum.

Peter made the call in Abuja on Wednesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.

He told INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to transfer the INEC National Commissioner in Ondo State, Prof. Lai Olurode, “because of his partisanship.”

The chairman emphasised the need for the electoral body to ensure that the contest was free and fair.

 “When a particular party is saying that it does not want a particular person to represent us, I believe INEC ought to have complied, at least for the sake of peace,” he said.

 He urged INEC to make the political environment neutral by bringing in a neutral person to supervise the election to ensure fairness and justice.

Peter alleged that there were strategies which opposition parties in the state had adopted to discredit Labour Party during the election.

“The oppositions are trying to use the party’s logos on T-shirts and caps on the day of election to look as if Labour Party is campaigning.

“It is against the rules of INEC for any party to engage in electioneering campaign 24 hours to the election.

“The security agencies should be on the alert for this, so that our party will not be accused wrongly.

Peter also urged security agencies to keep the entry points into Ondo State secured, to prevent hoodlums from neighbouring states, causing chaos in the state.

More Stories in Business

Source : punchng[dot]com

Gunmen attack oil vessel, kidnap seven expatriates

Click banner for more info

Gunmen have attacked a vessel belonging to Bobon International Oil Limited off the coast of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, Bayelsa State abducting six Russians and another expatriate believed to be an Estonian.
Our correspondent gathered that the expatriates were abducted at a time the security sources described as “wee hours of Tuesday”
Though the identities of the attackers and their motives were not known, security sources described them as pirates.
The incident which had created tension and fear of resurgence of kidnapping of expatriates in the Niger Delta region occurred along the Pennington River.
Fifteen workers were said to be on board the vessel which was believed to be sailing from the Pennington Offshore Terminal situated 16 miles to the entrance of Fishtown River
 when the incident happened.
While eight of the workers were said to have arrived Nigerian Port at Onne after escaping the attack, seven others were unlucky as they were captured by the bandits and taken to an unknown destination.
A source told our correspondent that communities close to the Coast of Pennington are host to Chevron’s oil platform in the area and belong to the company’s cluster known as the KEFFES communities.
 Operatives of the Joint Task Force, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield and the Central Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy were said to be combing the creeks to locate the whereabouts of the foreigners.
Confirming the incident the Media Coordinator, JTF, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, told our correspondent that operatives of the outfit had intensified search for the expatriates.
 He said, “Some unknown gunmen attacked a vessel and abducted seven persons consisting of six Russians and one Estonian national. We have deployed our naval elements to comb the area and track down the kidnappers. We have also alerted all operational bases.”

More Stories in Business

Source : punchng[dot]com

Police arrest 39 officers for various offences

Click banner for more info

Lagos State Police Commissioner, Mr Umar Manko, on Wednesday disclosed that 39 of its officers, including four women, have been arrested for various offences in the last seven months.

Manko who disclosed this during an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, added that the officers were arrested by the Command’s Monitoring Unit.

He expressed displeasure over the deviant attitude of some officers, stressing that he would no longer tolerate any act of indiscipline in the command.

“Officers arrested included Inspectors and other ranks; 11 of the officers were arrested for illegal duty operation, 9 officers arrested for discredited conduct.

“One officer was arrested for corruption, while 18 others were arrested for extortion, “ Manko said.

The commissioner said that the officers were arrested in different parts of the state carrying out duties which were contrary to police operations.

“There is a new order by the Inspector General of Police, which includes discipline. This order must be carried out in this command. Anyone that is not ready for the new order should look elsewhere.

“We are treating their matter in line with police discipline. In Lagos State, no police officer has any reason to be indisciplined or corrupt.

“My monitoring unit is out every day, anyone caught for illegal duty would be arrested, “ he said.

Manko said that the officers have already been tried according to police laws and regulations.

Areas where the officers were arrested, according to him, include Mushin, Surulere, Dopemu, Owode and Ogudu.

More Stories in Business

Source : punchng[dot]com

President Jonathan’s wife, Patience, returns to Nigeria

Click banner for more info

Patience, wife of President Goodluck Jonathan returned to Nigeria on Wednesday.

She had been away from the country two months ago for medical treatment in Weisbaden, Germany for an undisclosed ailment.

Her Chief Press Secretary, Ayo Osinlu, had said at the time that she was on holiday.

But press reports indicated that she was flown from Abuja to Germany in an air ambulance for treatment.

She returned to Abuja in a presidential jet.

More details later.

More Stories in Business

Source : punchng[dot]com

INEC Commissioner, Lai Olurode, not a politician – Jega

Click banner for more info

Independent National Electoral Commission Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Wednesday said the Labour Party’s allegation that the commission’s National Commissioner, Prof. Lai Olurode, is a member of a political party.

Speaking in Akure on Wednesday during a stakeholders’ meeting, Jega said INEC’s had found out the claim was meant to smear the commissioner’s integrity.

He stressed that none of INEC’s workers had any affiliation with any political party.

Jega said,” Your allegation is spurious. No member of INEC is a member of any political party.

“If you have any evidence to support your allegation, provide it. We will do the right thing.

“But our investigation has shown that your claim is spurious.

“We don’t take any allegation as spurious immediately it is made. We investigate every allegation.”

More Stories in Business

Source : punchng[dot]com

Cape Verde cap rise with Nations Cup ticket

Click banner for more info

| credits:

The Cape Verde Islands will become the smallest country to compete at an Africa Nations Cup finals after qualifying at the expense of Cameroon and their remarkable rise is the culmination of a project to target ‘top talent’.

The Portuguese-speaking country’s elimination of the four-time winners in Sunday’s final qualifying round ranks as one of the biggest shocks in the tournament’s history but it has been on the cards in recent years.

Just 10 years ago the ‘Tubaroes Azul’ (Blue Sharks) beat Mauritania 2-0 at home to record their first win in a competitive international and now they are ranked 51st in the world.

“There was a conscious decision by the federation to embark on a project that would pursue the top talent available and after many years of hard work this has now come to pass,” said Joao de Deus, coach of Portuguese second division club Oliveirense, who was in charge of Cape Verde in 2008 and 2009.

By tapping into a large number of descendants of migrants who have been steadily leaving the island archipelago over the last century, Cape Verde football’s ability far exceeds the country’s 500,000-strong population.

“We now have some 90 percent of our squad members who are playing at clubs in Europe, in Portugal, France, Spain, Holland and other countries,” coach Lucio Antunes said in a recent telephone interview.

“These are professional players who are desperate to show what they can do at the Nations Cup finals. It has been so easy to work with them because of their experience and their desire,” he added.

But while almost all of Cape Verde’s players are drawn from overseas clubs, there remains a fairytale element to the way they have gone from novices to Nations Cup qualifiers in the space of 10 years.

Antunes is on long leave from his job as an air traffic controller and the majority of the squad have no profile outside the Cape Verde. Sunday’s goal hero Heldon, from Maritimo in Portugal, and Ryan Mendes of Ligue 1 Lille are among the exceptions.

Better known Cape Verdians are Manchester United winger Nani and Porto defender Rolando, who both play for Portugal, and former Sweden striker Henrik Larsson, whose father hailed from the island nation.

The Cape Verde, more desert than tropical and situated off the west coast of Africa, won independence in the mid-70s from Portugal but did not play an international until more than a decade later.

They have been FIFA members since only 1986 and did not enter the Nations Cup or World Cup qualifiers until 1992 – two years after Cameroon became the first African country to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.

But on Sunday they looked consummate veterans of the international circuit, toying at times with their Cameroonian hosts as they advanced to January’s finals in South Africa 3-2 on aggregate over two legs.

More Stories in Sports

Source : punchng[dot]com

7 world-renowned paintings stolen from Dutch museum

Click banner for more info

AMSTERDAM — Seven paintings, including several by modern masters Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Claude Monet were stolen from Rotterdam's Kunsthal museum early Tuesday around 3 a.m.

Also stolen were works by Lucian Freud, Paul Gauguin, and Meyer de Haan.

The heist, one of the largest in years in the Netherlands, occurred while the private Triton Foundation collection was being exhibited publicly as a group for the first time. The collection was on display as part of celebrations surrounding the Kunsthal's 20th anniversary celebrations.

Millions in stolen art recovered in LA area

Neither the police nor the Kunsthal were immediately able to put a value on the haul, but the theft is one of the art world's most dramatic in recent years and will likely be worth millions.

Renoir bought for $7 at flea market may have been stolen from museum in 1951

Kunsthal, designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, does not have its own collection and exhibits different types of art, including photos, sculptures, design and fashion.

Video: 'Art For the Taking' (on this page)

The museum was closed Tuesday as police reviewed videotape footage and called on witnesses to come forward.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Nigerian Pilgrim In Saudi Arabia Mistakens Window For Door, Dies After Fall From High Rise Building

Click banner for more info

Another pilgrim from Bauchi State performing 2012 Hajj died in Medina, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, our correspondent reports.
The pilgrim died after falling from a high rise building. And this brings to two the number of the state pilgrims who have died in the holy land this year.
The deceased was believed to have mistaken a window for the door of his room, and thus fell off the window to his untimely death.
A reliable source said the deceased had performed ablution for prayers and was about to leave for the mosque when he opened the window and fell from the high rise building to the ground.
The source further said that people immediately rushed to the scene to offer him medical assistance but he died on the spot.

Diarrhoea kills 194,000 Nigerian kids every year –UNICEF

Click banner for more info

The United Nations Children’s Fund has said that diarrhoea kills about 194,000 children under the age of five every year in Nigeria.

In a statement in Lagos on Monday, the global body disclosed that 88 per cent of diarrhoeal deaths could be attributed to unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene.

It stated, “As the world celebrates the fifth annual Global Hand Washing Day, we should emphasis the fact that the very simple act of hand washing with soap can save hundreds of thousands of children who needlessly die every year.

Astronomers discover planet with four suns

Click banner for more info

Astronomers have found a planet whose skies are illuminated by four different suns - the first known of its type.
The distant world orbits one pair of stars which have a second stellar pair revolving around them.
The discovery was made by volunteers using the Planethunters.org website along with a team from UK and US institutes; follow-up observations were made with the Keck Observatory.
A report on the Arxiv server has been submitted to the Astrophysical Journal.

19 Women Raped At Refugee Camps For Flood Victims In Benue State

Click banner for more info

It was double jeopardy for 19 female refugees at various resettlement camps in Benue State who were raped by men not bothered by the discomforting displacement they are suffering as a result of the flood. Cases of rape have been reported in four of the designated camps.
The incident may have heightened the woes of the people who were displaced from their various homes by the flood that has ravaged many parts of the country, as they are already cumbered by congestion, hunger, physiological inconveniences, and possible epidemic.
Some of the state governments, like Delta State, have introduced mobile clinics within the camps, to handle any health challenge of the displaced people.

Blaming The Other Person

Click banner for more info

A boy was born to a couple after eleven years of marriage. They were a Loving couple and the boy was the gem of their eyes.
When the boy was around two years old, one morning the husband saw a medicine bottle open. He was late for office so he asked his wife to cap the bottle and keep it in the cupboard. His wife, preoccupied in the kitchen totally forgot about the open medicine bottle.

Abdullahi Bello, Kogi State House Of Assembly Impeached

Click banner for more info

The Kogi State House of Assembly has impeached the Speaker of the Assembly, Abdullahi Bello. Reports indicate that the deputy speaker, and 10 other principal officers were also removed from office.

It is not clear how many lawmakers were at Tuesday morning’s sitting as the 25-member House was not set to sit until Thursday.

The Speaker has been having a running battle with some lawmakers who had been plotting to removing him from office. It is believed that the anti-speaker lawmakers are doing the bidding of the state governor, Idris Wada.

More details later

View the original article here

Man throws wife into pit latrine in Ogun

Click banner for more info

Abeokuta – The Ogun  Police Command on Tuesday in Abeokuta paraded a suspect  for allegedly killing his wife  by throwing her into a pit  latrine  over a misunderstanding.

Mr Ikemefuna Okoye, the state’s  Commissioner of  Police, told newsmen that the 46-year-old unemployed man committed the act  on Oct.  7  at Agbado area of the state.

“The Agbado Division had a distress call that a man had  pushed his wife into a deep pit;  we quickly rushed to the scene where the victim was met dead in the pit.

“The suspect was immediately apprehended and we are still interrogating him;  he will be charged to court as soon as we are done with our investigations,” Okoye said.

The command also paraded an 80-year-old man and his  64-year wife  over  an allegation of  illegal possession of firearms.

Okoye said  the couple were arrested on Oct.  13 after  the police conducted a search on their   house at No 21 Obarinwa street, Aiyegbami, Ago-Iwoye.

“The DPO of  Ago-Iwoye, Stephen Iriavbijeh,  got information that the couple’s son is a notorious robber and he led a team to conduct the search.

“On getting there, the suspect was not seen but while executing the search warrant, one cut-to-size gun, two locally made pistols and 16 live cartridges were recovered in his mother’s wardrobe.

“Thus,  we arrested the  two of them in whose possession we found  the firearms  for thorough interrogation,” he said.

Okoye appealed to members of the public to assist the police with useful information that could lead to the arrest of criminals in the state.

The commissioner assured them that their identity would be treated with utmost confidentiality.

According to him, the police are working round the clock to ensure the safety of lives and property. (NAN)

Comments are moderated. Please keep them clean and brief.

View the original article here

Resolution in talks to sell Malaysia JV stake

Click banner for more info

LONDON: British life insurer Resolution on Tuesday said it was in talks to sell its stake in a Malaysian joint venture as part of an overhaul aimed at cutting costs and boosting returns to shareholders.

The company is discussing a sale of its 30 per cent stake in Amlife Insurance Berhad and AmFamily Takaful Berhad back to its joint venture partner, Malaysian lender AmBank Group, Reuters quoted it as saying.

A spokesman said the planned sale formed part of a previously-announced effort by Resolution to streamline its operations and increase cash generation.

The company, created to buy and merge underperforming life insurers, earlier this year called a halt to takeovers and said it would focus instead on squeezing savings out of its existing assets, which include life insurer Friends Provident.

Resolution said its joint venture stake had an embedded value — an industry measure denoting the present value of expected future earnings from life insurance policies — of £38m ($61.00m) as of June 30.

Resolution shares were up 0.3 per cent at 1315 GMT, underperforming a one per cent increase in the FTSE 100 share index.

More Stories in International Business

Source : punchng[dot]com

Police parade two suspected killers of UNIPORT students

Click banner for more info

The police in Rivers State on Tuesday paraded two of the suspected killers of four students of the University of Port Harcourt.

The two suspects – David Chinasa Ugbaje and Ikechukwu Louis Amadi – were allegedly part of the mob that stripped, tortured and killed Lloyd Toku, Ugonna Obuzor, Chiadika Biringa and Tekena Erikena before setting them ablaze on October 5, 2012 in Omuokiri Aluu community.

The suspects, who were paraded in Port Harcourt, are expected to be arraigned on Wednesday for the murder of the students.

The police are still on the trail of a student of UNIPORT, Coxson Lelebori, who incited the mob to attack the students when they came to his house to collect a debt he was owing one of them.

More details later.

More Stories in News

Source : punchng[dot]com