Saudi King, Salman bin Abdulaziz, has reportedly ordered that the families of those who were killed or who were permanently injured in the last week Friday’s crane collapse at a Mecca mosque each be paid one million Saudi Riyals (about N65 million) in compensation. Anadolu international news agency report quoted a royal decree issued by the King as requiring that 500,000 Riyals (about N32.5 million) will be paid out to those who suffered less serious injuries. According to the National Hajj Commission (NAHCON), six Nigerian pilgrims died in the tragedy. NAHCON said that the victims comprised one male from Kaduna State, four females from Gombe and one male from Katsina. They were buried yesterday in Martyrs’ Cemetery, situated adjacent to the mosque where the incident took place. It has not been disclosed how many Nigerians were injured in the tragedy. A total of 110 people were killed – and at least 235 injured – when a massive crane collapsed in Mecca’s Grand Mosque on Friday. When the accident occurred, the mosque was teeming with hundreds of worshippers performing the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Saudi officials initially attributed the accident to “strong winds” which they said, had caused the crane to fall inside the mosque, which is currently undergoing extensive expansion works. However, yesterday, Saudi Arabia’s official press agency (SPA) reported that board members of the Bin Laden Group – a prominent Saudi development firm involved in the expansion works – had been barred from leaving the country. The news agency went on to report that a commission of inquiry had found the development firm at least partly responsible for the collapse of the crane, which, the commission asserted, had been left in a “precarious position.” [myad]
The Government of Osun state, today, commenced the payment of outstanding salaries to workers in the state. Chairman of the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Jacob Adekomi who addressed newsmen after a meeting with representative of government on the disbursement of bailout loan for workers salary at the Government House in Osogbo, commended Governor Rauf Aregbesola for disbursing the bailout loan for the payment of backlog of workers salaries. Adekomi said that there was no disagreement between Labour and government on whether the bailout loan will not be used to pay workers salaries as speculated in some quarters. According to him, labour had been certain that the fund was intact and had been meeting with government on the modalities on how it will be disbursed, based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) of 13th July, 2015 which it entered into with government. Speaking on the MOU between government and the committee inaugurated on disbursement of bailout loan, the NLC boss said the funds to be disbursed will cover the payment of outstanding salaries for the month of January to June. “In order to ensure sustainability of payment of salaries in the state of Osun, the first disbursement from the bailout loan should cover the payment of outstanding September and December 2014 deductions, balance of January and February salaries and full payment of March, April and May 2015 salaries for state government workers. “That workers in the employment of Local government and Primary school teachers be paid their first installment out of the bailout loan to cover the payment of balance of March and April, 2015 salaries as well as full payment of May and June, 2015 salaries. “That state pensioners be paid balance of December, 2014 as well as January, February and March 2015 pensions while their counterparts in the Local Government and primary schools be paid up to June 2015.” Adekomi said that subsequent payment of salaries will be paid with available net revenue from the Federation Accounts and Internally Generated Revenue will be apportioned in a way to take care of salaries, pensions and expenditure required to run government. He pointed out that labour has agreed to work with government to increase IGR so as to increase the available revenue to pay salaries and other government expenditure. Also, the Chief-of-staff to Governor Aregbesola, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, who led government delegation, said that government is working for the interest of workers and the bailout loan is just once. Oyetola described the earlier insinuations by opposition that the state governor has been mobilising contractors back to work from the bailout loan as false and unwarranted. The Chief-of- staff said that contractors getting back to construction site is as a result of the proper use of the SUKUK bond of the state, saying that people of the state should be full of praises to the governor for being committed to the development of Osun. Oyetola pointed out that Osun is not the only state of the Federation that has got her share of the bailout loan, and most of the states have not even disbursed the said loan to workers. “The government of Osun is working for the interest of workers, most states that have taken the bailout loan have not disbursed it. So, there is nothing special about Osun taking its time before properly disbursing it. “What we have done was to align with workers who asked that the number of actual workers be ascertained through verification. That is what we have just concluded. We must consider what will happen and what to do after this disbursement. “We want to be sure that people we are paying are real workers that are still in service. We must also have the understanding that after the disbursement of the bailout loan, whatever remains from the federal allocation and IGR will be used to pay workers.” [myad]
The soldiers of the Nigerian Army have cut off food supply to members of Boko Haram after arresting 33 suppliers today.
The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Colonel Sani Usman, said in an electronic mail today that the insurgents were arrested around Azir-Wazikoro in the Damboa axis of Borno State.
He said the suspects were arrested with large quantity of foodstuff at Korode during an intensive patrol by the troops.
He said that nine of the 33 suspects came from Korode, five from Auma, ten from Geargube, four from Bulbul and one from Dolomi, adding: “intensive patrols and vigilance of troops have continued to yield positive results with the arrest of 33 suspected food suppliers to the Boko Haram terrorists in Damboa axis around Azir-Wajiroko road, Borno State.
“The 33 suspected Boko Haram accomplices were arrested with large quantity of foodstuff meant for Boko Haram terrorists at Korode.”
He said that while the suspects claimed to be traders, they did not deny buying and selling items to the insurgents.
Usman said the Army had commenced investigation to uncover the level of involvement of the suspects with the deadly sect.
He said that the troops also discovered and destroyed some Improvised Explosive Devices planted by the Boko Haram insurgents at Sadia, along Korode Road.
According to him, the troops also rescued some women and children who were abducted by the insurgents at Buduwa general area of Bama Local Government Area which was under Boko Haram’s occupation.
He stated that while the Nigerian Army had ensured the safety of rescued persons, it was also conscious of the possibility that some of them could be terrorists. [myad]
The League of Imams and Alfas in Ekiti state has ordered Muslims in the state not to collect rams and other food items for Sallah celebration, if presented to them in any form by the state government. This is even as another section of the same group gave a counter order, saying that Muslims should gladly accept the governor’s rams and food items for the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
The League reached the decision at a meeting held on Tuesday at Ansar-u-Deen Society Central Mosque Odo-Otu, Ado Ekiti, where it reviewed the “deliberate marginalization of Muslim members in Ekiti State Government’s political appointment.”
The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and National Council of Muslim Youth Organization, Ekiti State, had respectively issued statements condemning Governor Ayodele Fayose for neglecting Muslims in appointments.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, had also described Fayose’s treatment of Muslims in terms of appointment in the state as “the worst since the state was created.”
The party claimed Ekiti Muslims were not given up to one per cent of the appointments made by Fayose’s administration.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the League said: “Based on the above, the League, Ekiti State Council, hereby resolved that no Muslim in the state should collect rams and other food items, if presented to them in any form by the government.”
The communiqué was signed by the state’s Assistant Secretary, League of Imams and Alfas, Alhaji Quadri Oguntuase; a Representative of Ansar-u-Deen Missioner, Fatai Jimoh and Chief Imam, Ilogbo, Imam Abdul Rasak.
It added: “Any Muslim that collects such rams or food items under any guise has taken Haram (Unlawful) and the punishment of the Almighty Allah awaits the person. (Quran 71 verse 28).”
“This order stands until the government accedes to our demands as earlier published.”
However, a counter directive from the General Secretary of the same League of Imams and Alfas in Nigeria in the State, Alhaji Abdulrazak Adenipekun, askedMuslims in the state to ignore the ban on Sallah’s gift from Governor Ayodele Fayose.
In a release today, Adenipekun said it was his duty as the General Secretary to issue notice of meetings as directed by the president, adding that there was no such directive given by the president of the League for any meeting, describing Fayose as a defender of all faiths.
He argued that the governor had been fair to Muslims in the appointments made so far, saying: “We wish to dissociate the league of Imams and Alfas in Ekiti from the purported press statement credited to Alhaji Oguntuase. While we don’t want to get involved in politics as a religious organization, we must state that Fayose has demonstrated highest respect for Muslims in the State.
“That can be seen from how he, for the first time in the history, made a Muslim one of the three senators representing Ekiti State. One of the two House of Assembly members representing Ado Local Government is a Muslim.
“It is the height of political mischief for anyone or group masquerading as League of Imams and Alfas to have used our revered religious and non-political organization to promote their personal political agenda.
“We are non-political and it amounts to ridiculing the name of Almighty Allah and our great Prophet Mohammed for anyone or group to drag the Islamic religion into politics. We therefore wish to warn those behind the mischief to stop or risk the wrath of the Almighty Allah (SWT).”
Adenipekun emphasized that Muslims in Ekiti would gladly accept gifts from the governor if offered.
“We must state that the governor has never discriminated against Muslims. During his first tenure, he appointed a Muslim as Permanent Secretary, Alhaji Yakubu Sanni. The present Special Adviser on Political Matters, Alhaji Ademola Bello, is a Muslim.
“We are solidly behind the governor and in the overall interest of Ekiti State, we will continue to pray for the success of the present administration.” [myad]
The Nigeria Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, has assured that the military will meet the three-month presidential deadline to end the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.
“The military is winning the war on daily basis,” General Buratai told journalists shortly after declaring open the 10th Nigerian Army Finance Corps Biennial Training Conference in Kaduna today.
He added that it is possible to meet the deadline set for the military by President Muhammadu Buhari.
President Buhari had given the military up to December 2015 to end the insurgency in the northeast.
General Buratai, who did not give details on the deadline and the strategy of the military during the interview, simply said: “We will end Boko Haram insurgency very soon. It is possible to meet the three months deadline. We are very close to the insurgents. We are winning them on daily basis.” [myad]
The Director-General of the National Task Force to Combat Illegal Importation of Small Arms, Ammunition, and Light Weapons (NATFORCE), Emmanuel Osita Okereke, has been declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for jumping bail.
Okereke was a former presidential aspirant under the platform of the Liberation Party (LP).
According to the Head of Media and Publicity of the anti-graft agency, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, the ex-presidential aspirant is being prosecuted by the EFCC on a six-count charge of impersonation, forgery and obtaining by false pretence.
He said the suspect was arraigned on November 21, 2013 before Justice J. Y. Tukur of the FCT High Court, Apo, Abuja, for allegedly forging a document of the Federal Government titled: “Restricted, Federal Government of Nigeria, National Task Force.”
Uwujaren said: “He alleged falsely held public offices as DG and director, FCT Command of National Task Force, through which along with Ishmeal Chinyere Nwogu, he fraudulently obtained money from sale of employment forms.
“Okereke, who was arrested with several incriminating items, including bullet proof vests, has however, jumped bail and is currently wanted by the EFCC.
“He allegedly operates a syndicate, which maintains offices across the country, defrauding unsuspecting members of the public, by selling recruitment forms for N5, 000 in the guise that they would be offered job by the federal government.
“The EFCC enjoins members of the public with information on the whereabouts of Okereke to contact any of its offices in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Enugu, Gombe and Kano, or the nearest police station.”
One of the charges against Okerekke reads: “That you Osita Okereke and Ishmael Chinyere Nwogu sometime in March, 2010 in Abuja within the judicial Division of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory knowingly had in your possession a forged document titled: ‘RESTRICTED, FEDERAL REPBLIC OF NIGERIA, NATIONAL TASK FORCE’ with intent to defraud, fraudulently used same as genuine to induce the public to believe that your organization is an agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria and consequently remitted the aggregate sum of N1,145,000 to you through First Bank account number 3066173170 and thereby committed an offence and punishable under section 368 of the Penal Code Act Cap 532 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (Abuja).
“Justice Tukur had granted the request of his counsel, Kanayo Okofar, requesting that he be granted bail.” [myad]
A 65 year old retiree, Mr. Jonathan Ubi has divorced his wife of 18 years, Mrs. Rita accusing her of deserting him, saying that she disappeared from their matrimonial home for a long time without any reason.
An Igando Customary Court, Lagos dissolved the marriage today following a suit Jonathan filed asking for the dissolution of his marriage after alleging that the wife had committed an abomination.
“My wife committed an abomination by willingly abandoning her matrimonial home for four weeks to an unknown destination. She stopped caring for me and our children; instead, she left everything in the hands of our maids.
“In my tradition, it is a taboo for a wife, who abandoned her matrimonial home to come back. I cannot marry or have anything to do with her again,” he said.
Jonathan said that his wife was lazy as she could not take care of her family, adding: “because of her laziness, I enrolled all my children into boarding school as their mother cannot take proper care of them.
“She recklessly mismanaged the business I set up for her and she is always asking me for more money.”
He begged the court to dissolve his marriage to Rita as he was no more in love with her and was also not willing to live with a woman who commits so many atrocities.
His 40-year-old wife in her defense said it was her husband that chased her away from the house after threatening to bath her with acid.
“My husband chased me from the house. He said that I was irritating him and threatened to kill me by pouring acid on me if I refused to leave his house. So, at that point, I had no option than to move to our church to tarry while waiting for his temper to cool down”, she claimed.
The 40-year-old businesswoman said that the elders in the church begged him, but that he said he could not accept her back because she had committed an abomination by sleeping outside her matrimonial home.
“My brother-in-law always accused me of using charm on my husband so that he will love only me and my children and abandon them (his family). My husband’s family have been trying so much to destroy my home by accusing me of being fetish.
“It is this same in-law that instigated my husband to reject me after insisting that I was not a good wife.”
“I have always taken good care of my husband and our children,” Rita added and pleaded with the court not to grant her husband’s wish as she was still in love with him.
The president of the court, Mr. Hakeem Oyekan, in his judgment, said he was convinced that the couple could no longer live together as the petitioner insisted on the divorce even after several interventions.
“The court has no choice than to dissolve the union in spite of the fact that the wife still claims she loves her husband. The couple can no longer stay together because the marriage has broken down totally, both parties are no longer husband and wife, they are free to go their separate ways.
“Both parties are to keep peace all the time, any violation of the order should be reported to the police for redress,” the Court president ruled. [myad]
The Head Coach of the U-23 National Team, Samson Siasia, has apologized to Nigerians over the 3-1 defeat of the team by Burkina Faso in the semi-final match of the 11th All-Africa Games football tournament in Brazzaville.
A statement on Nigeria Football Federation’s website said Siasia blamed the loss on his boys’ profligacy in front of goal and the defenders’ failure in their duties.
Siasia said he was sorry for not qualifying for the All-Africa Games men’s football final match to bring home the gold medal to Nigeria.
“I am not a man of excuses. I take all the blame for this collapse and will certainly make amends before the Africa U-23 Cup of Nations,” he said.
Siasia said in his wildest imagination, he did not for once believe the team would lose to Burkina Faso, let alone by such a wide margin.
“I never imagined losing to Burkina Faso but then my midfielders played so well, my defenders and attackers let me down.
“Can you imagine my attackers not being able to convert about eight chances that came their way?
“To make matters worse, the defenders were asleep on a day they should have been up and doing. Who told the central defenders to keep offside trap the way they did? I am totally disappointed; we can’t play like this in Senegal and expect to qualify for the 2016 Olympics,” Siasia said.
Siasia said he had learnt his lessons in the AAG and would look for foreign players to reinforce the team for U-23 African Championship in Senegal.
Nigeria is grouped with Algeria, Egypt and Mali in Group B at the African U-23 Championship in Dakar and M’Bour, Senegal.
The championship’s top three teams are expected to fly Africa’s flag at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The 11th All-Africa Games which began on September 4 is expected to end on Saturday. [myad]
Saudi Arabia has suspended the Saudi Binladin group from taking on new projects, days after a deadly crane collapse in Mecca.
A statement by the Saudi government today said the company’s operations had been stopped until a review of all their work had been completed.
The Saudi Binladin group is one of the region’s largest construction firms with contracts across the country.
Initial investigations by Saudi authorities suggested a “balance issue” in the crane and bad weather contributed to the tragedy that left at least 107 people dead and hundreds more injured at Islam’s holiest site immediately prior to the start of the Hajj.
The move has been described as “very significant,” the Mecca incident brought everything up to the surface, you can sense there were issues beneath the table.
“There is an indication that the construction firm misused the manufacturer’s instructions, an indication perhaps of negligence.”
The Hajj, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, has been prone to disasters in the past, mainly from stampedes as pilgrims rush to complete rituals and return home.
Hundreds of pilgrims died in such a crush in 2006.
Saudi authorities have since spent vast sums to expand the main Hajj sites and improve Mecca’s transport system, in an effort to prevent more disasters. [myad]
Burkina Faso, today, beat Nigeria’s Dream Team by 3 – 1 and advanced to clash with Senegal for the prestigious gold medal of the men’s football event of the 2015 Africa Games.
Burkina Faso made the most of their chances, while Nigeria were wasteful in front of goal and paid the price for such wastefulness.
The Burkinabes were also very physical and forced Nigeria to make two changes as a result of injuries – Umar Aminu was replaced by Kingsley Sokari in the 48th minute and 10 minutes later, Mustapha Abdullahi came on for the injured Ndifreke Effiong.
Burkina Faso, who only advanced to the semi-final of the tournament by the luck of the draw after they were tied on all statistics with Sudan, went in front after 12 minutes when defender Seth Sincere put the ball through his own net.
Burkina Faso doubled their lead after 73 minutes through Omar Kabore, before substitute Etor Daniel reduced the deficit in the 75 minute after good work by Junior Ajayi.
But just when it looked like Nigeria will stage a remarkable comeback, Burkina Faso increased their lead to 3-1 in the 78th minute courtesy of Arba Dicko.
Burkina will now slug it out with Senegal, who were deserved 3-1 winners against home team Congo in the other semi-final on Tuesday. [myad]
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