Killer Kerosene In Delta

Click banner for more info

No fewer than 15 persons have fallen victims of serious kerosene explosion across Delta State since the last two weeks.

Unknown to the buyers who were mostly housewives and food-sellers, the killer products had been adulterated and sold at cheaper rate. Some of the victims who spoke with Daily Sun on grounds of anonymity, said they couldn’t know that the kerosene product have been adulterated with diesel and a little mixture of fuel.

World Bank To Spend $300m For Mortgage Infrastructure In Nigeria

Click banner for more info

The World Bank is to partner Nigeria to develop a sound mortgage financing structure that would deliver affordable houses to Nigerians.

The multilateral institution is to provide financial access and liquidity to the tune of $300 million to kick start the project.

Banks in the country are to partner government to develop a mortgage vehicle that will manage housing development in Nigeria. Government will, however, have a small share. This fact was disclosed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minster of the Economy Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala.

British Millionaire Convicted For Selling Fake Bomb Detectors

Click banner for more info

A 56-year-old British millionaire is facing jail after he was convicted on Tuesday of selling fake bomb detectors to Iraq and other countries.

James McCormick was found guilty of three counts of fraud at London’s Old Bailey court for selling completely ineffective devices based on an American novelty golf ball finder.

McCormick made an estimated £50 million(N12.1bn) from sales of his three models to Iraq, Belgium and the United Nations for use in Lebanon.

“The devices did not work and he knew they did not work,” prosecutor Richard Whittam told jurors.

Boston Bombing Suspect Asks Court For Experienced Lawyers

Click banner for more info

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the Boston Marathon bombing suspect, has asked a court to appoint two lawyers with experience in death penalty cases to help with his defence.

Tsarnaev’s lawyer, Miriam Conrad, said in a filing in federal court in Boston that two lawyers who have defended capital prosecutions should be appointed, “given the magnitude of this case.”

The case against Jared Loughner, the gunman who killed six people and injured 13, including former Democratic congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was allowed to hire two attorneys with experience in death penalty matters, was cited by Conrad. Loughner pleaded guilty to the 2011 rampage and is serving life in prison.

Egypt Former Finance Minister Gets 25 Years In Prison

Click banner for more info

A former finance minister has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by an Egyptian court on charges of squandering public funds.  According to Egypt’s state news agency in a Tuesday report, Yousef Boutros-Ghali was found guilty of squandering around $3.6 million (about N571m)during his final years as minister.

Boutros-Ghali is a nephew of former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and is believed to be in London, but was tried anyway. His absence means he is allowed a retrial and all verdicts can be overturned upon his return.

Boutros-Ghali has been convicted on similar charges in past cases. A Cairo court is also due to issue a verdict later this month in a case involving Boutros-Ghali and the country’s former prime minister, Ahmed Nazif, and former interior minister, Habib el-Adly, who are both imprisoned in Cairo.

Gang Assassinate Lagos DJ In Public

Click banner for more info

The residents of Bank Olemoh Street, Surulere, Lagos, were terrified on Monday when two gunmen shot dead Olamide George, a 25-year-old DJ.

According to eyewitnesses, the assassination was carried out at about 2pm while George was with friends under a tree, popularly known as Abe Igi.

When Punch Metro visited Bank Olemoh Street on Tuesday, police vehicles were seen patrolling the street.

Two residents, who pleaded anonymity, said the deceased was an ‘internet businessman’. One of them said the likely motivation for his assassination was a N2 million deal he just concluded.

FEMEN carried out holy "water attack" on Belgian Catholic Church

Click banner for more info

Several activists of the women's movement FEMEN have sprayed head of Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard, the head of the Belgian Catholic Church, with water

Activists from the Brussels division of FEMEN attacked the archbishop during "a session of public propaganda of hatred and religious fanaticism" at ULB, one of the main educational establishments in Belgium, on April 23, the day of legalization of same-sex marriages in France, FEMEN said in a report.

The FEMEN activists sprayed the archbishop with water.

"FEMEN consistently opposes religious propaganda of violence, homophobia, and attempts made by the church to resume its destructive [:] influence on women and society in general," FEMEN said in its press release.

On April 23, the French National Assembly passed in the second reading a bill allowing homosexuals to marry and adopt children.

Ọmọ Oódua News From Nigeria, Interfax

3 Injured As Car Bomb Explodes At Embassy

Click banner for more info

Laurent Fabius condemns a “terrorist” attack on the French embassy in Libya after it was hit by a car bomb on Tuesday.

Two guards and a young girl were injured in the first of such attack in Tripoli since the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.

The French foreign minsiter, Fabius, condemned what he called a heinous attack and said everything would be done to find the perpetrators after flying in to Tripoli to assess the situation.

“This was a terrorist act … aimed at killing,” Fabius said after he flew in to inspect the damage and visit the wounded, one of whom had emergency surgery.

Fayemi condoles parents of drowned boy

Click banner for more info

The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has condoled with the family of seven-year old, Olamide Ayeni who was drowned in the flood after heavy rains in Ado-Ekiti.

The boy was said to have been sent on an errand with his elder sister, Faith, but fell into a flooded drain while returning home. Condoling the family, Fayemi described the incident as pathetic, noting that having lost his deputy; he knew the pains Olamide’s parents are going through.

“The loss of any of our children gives us a lot of pains. This is a very young kid, an innocent person who had a good future and we have lost him to an avoidable tragedy like this. It was a terrible loss.

JTF invades Azuzuama for suspected criminals

Click banner for more info

Operatives of the Joint Task Force, JTF, yesterday invaded Azuzuama community in Southern Ijaw Local Government area of Bayelsa State in search of some suspected criminals hiding in the area.

The presence of the JTF operatives generated tension among inhabitants of the coastal community. National Mirror could not confirm as at the time of filing this report if the JTF personnel arrested any of the suspected criminals.

It was learnt that the manhunt for suspected kidnappers and sea pirates by the security agency was one of its routine operations to ensure sanity in the creeks. It will be recalled that some ex-militants ambushed and killed 11 policemen at Azuzuama on April 5, along the waterways.

JTF destroys 294 drums of seized diesel

Click banner for more info

The Joint Task Force, JTF, Operation Pulo Shield, Calabar Zone, on Monday in Calabar, Cross River State, continued its onslaught against illegal merchants of petroleum products as it destroyed over 294 drums of diesel it impounded last week in the state capital.

The task force, made up of soldiers from the 13 Brigade, Calabar also destroyed one truck load of diesel, six generating sets, one J-5 bus and several hoses seized alongside the diesel from oil bunkerers.

Speaking during the destruction exercise at the JTF dump site in Odukpani, near Calabar, the General Officer Commanding, GOC, 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Enugu, Major-General Olaniyi Adebayo, described bunkering as economic sabotage.

Olaniyi said the Chief of Army Staff was committed to fighting oil bunkering, adding that the command was doing everything within its powers to wipe out the menace.

Offshore-onshore dichotomy responsible for terrorism –Kwankwaso ( Do you Agree?)

Click banner for more info

Kano State governor, Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, yesterday said the offshore/ onshore dichotomy issue was responsible for the Boko Haram insurgency in the North.

Kwankwaso said the dichotomy also brought about a high level of poverty and hopelessness in the region, resulting in the insecurity currently being witnessed.

Kwankwaso’s declaration came even as the Kaduna State governor, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, rejected the controversial Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, bill yesterday, saying it would further alienate other parts of the country economically.

Four varsity students paraded for drug trafficking

Click banner for more info

•Police recover 33 stolen vehicles

The Imo State Police Command yesterday paraded three undergraduates of the North American University based in Cotonou, Republic of Benin and two others for being in possession of substances suspected to be hard drugs.

The suspects, who smuggled the narcotics neatly wrapped with plastic tapes, were apprehended when they were about to sell the drugs at Nekede in Owerri West Local Government Area.

The command also recovered 33 stolen vehicles and 12 motorcycles in the last two months. The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Musa Katsina, said that the university undergraduates were arrested with nine compressed parcels suspected to be hard drugs by the command’s Ambush Squad following a tip off.

Reps intervene in Kogi-Anambra oil well dispute

Click banner for more info

The House of Representatives yesterday directed its committees on Special Duties and Disaster and Emergency Management to liaise with the National Boundary Commission, NBC, on the lingering clashes between Enugu-Otu, Nkpunado and Eziagulu-Otu communities of Aguleri in Anambra East Local Government of the state and Olu communities of Ibaji Local Government of Kogi State, over the oil rich land.

The decision of the House to give the committees the mandate, arose from a motion sponsored by Hon. Chriscato Amaeke (PDPAnambra), seeking the intervention of the House.

FG hires SAN to prosecute Leadership reporters

Click banner for more info

The Federal Government has hired an Abuja-based member of the inner bar, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, as private lawyer to prosecute the Group News Editor, Mr. Tony Amokeodo and Political Correspondent, Mr. Chibuzor Ukaibe, of Leadership newspapers, over allegation of forging a document containing a presidential directive.

The journalists are also accused of fraudulent publication of a bromide of the controversial document, inciting members of the public against the government to dislocate the nation’s peace and forgery of the seal, signet or sign manual purported to be the signature of President Jonathan Goodluck.

But, the government which concealed a number of crucial documents containing details of the forgery allegation against the journalists, however, failed yesterday to arraign them as they insisted on full disclosure of the entire case against them before they would know the type of plea to enter.

Northern Governors To Meet On Thursday Over State Of Insecurity

Click banner for more info

A special meeting of Northern States Governors’ Forum (NSGF) is scheduled to hold on Thursday April 25, 2013 at Niger State Governors’ Lodge in Abuja.

A statement signed by Coordinating Chairman, Forum of Secretaries to the Governments of Northern States, Saidu Ndako Idris disclosed that the NSGF will receive the report of the Northern States Committee on Reconciliation, Healing and Security.

The statement reiterated the Forum’s commitment to put an end to the unacceptable wanton carnage as well as security challenges in the region by collaborating with all relevant stakeholders.

37 Not 185, 6 civilians,1 soldier Died In Baga Clash, We Were Never Unprofessional – MJTF, Brig. Gen. Austin Edokpay

Click banner for more info

Contrary to reports that 185 people died as a result of last weekend’s clash between the operatives of the Multinational Joint Task Force (MJTF) and members of the radical sect, Boko Haram in Baga town of Borno State, the military says not more than 37 were killed in that incidence.

A statement issued on Tuesday and also made available by the commander of the MJTF, Brig. Gen. Austin Edokpaye to newsmen in Maiduguri gave the breakdown of the casualties as 30 members of the Boko Haram insurgents, six civilians caught up in the crossfire and one soldier.

He also disclosed that five of the insurgents who attacked his men during the deadly clash have been arrested and are awaiting interrogation. The statement claimed that the soldiers exercised restraint for so long under intense provocation from the sect as the two-day clash was highly provoked by the insurgents.

Jonathan: US report on Nigeria corruption ‘over amplified’

Click banner for more info

Ayo Oluokun/Abuja
President Goodluck Jonathan has described claims that his administration is dogged by massive corruption in a report by the United States Government as untrue as “over-amplified’, though he agree that there are ‘issues of corruption in the country’.
Speaking at the signing ceremony of power reforms transactions held at the Banquet Hall of Presidential Villa on Monday, the President said the report submitted to the U.S. Congress by the Secretary of State John Kerry failed to recognize the fact that his administration has done a lot to curtail corrupt activities as shown by the way government has been conducting its business.

FG seeks $3.4bn foreign loan for power projects …says Nigerian banks charge high interest rates

Click banner for more info

The Federal Government is looking beyond Nigerian banks to raise $3.4bn needed to fund power projects in the country because of high interest rates being charged on loans by local banks.

The Chairman, Presidential Task Force on Power, Mr. Beks Dagogo-Jack, said Nigerian banks had not done enough in terms of understanding how the ongoing reforms in the power sector worked.

He spoke with journalists on the sidelines of the Presidential Power Reform Transaction signing ceremony in Abuja on Monday.

Nigeria: On the throes of infrastructural boom?

Click banner for more info

NIGERIA, home to over 160 million people, has, over the years, been called the giant of Africa, due particularly to its large population and abundant natural resources. However, the ‘giant of Africa’, over the years, has been plagued by the corrupt attitude of its leaders and people in power. This has stalled the economic and infrastructural growth of the nation and encouraged the scourge of poverty among its citizens.

For decades, the nation depended on its agricultural products and later, with the discovery of crude oil, petroleum resources which till date, has helped grow the country’s economy but not without attendant crises from the Niger Delta region from where the bulk of the crude oil is extracted.