President Goodluck Jonathan has sympathized with the victims of today bomb blast attack at the Federal College of Education in Kano, especially the families of those who died in the attack. In a statement today, by his special adviser on media and publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President Jonathan wished those who suffered injuries in what he called ‘the dastadly attack’ speedy recovery. The President commended the officers and men of the Nigerian Police Force who took prompt action to confront the attackers and minimize resultant casualties. He urged them to be even more alert and proactive in the future to stop terrorist attacks in Kano and other parts of the country. President Jonathan reassured the people of Kano and all Nigerians that the Federal Government would continue to do all within its powers to further enhance the ability of the Police, Armed Forces and other security agencies to prosecute the war against terrorism to a successful conclusion and provide greater security of lives and property across the country.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has appealed to Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria to pray to God to deliver Nigeria from the shackles of the present spiritual, social and economic predicaments.
He also appealed to them to pray for peaceful elections in 2015 and the emergence of a God-fearing administration that will make Nigeria spiritually, morally and socially sanctified. In a goodwill message to the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Atiku, who is also the Turaki Adamawa, drew their attention to the fact that Nigeria needs to overcome the many challenges which currently threaten security, freedom of religion and citizenship in many parts of the country.
The Bishops are holding their 2014 second plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria in Warri, Delta State.
“God has given you a unique responsibility as spiritual leaders, and I urge you to guide our people on how to wisely discharge their civic rights to free Nigeria from the shackles of her present spiritual, social and economic predicaments,” Atiku said.
Atiku Abubakar, who had attended the Bishops Conference previously as a sitting Vice President stated, “I wish, I could be with you personally in Warri during this your second plenary; but my previously fixed engagements outside the country makes this very difficult.
“However, I shall be grateful if I could be given the opportunity of meeting your conference or its representation at a not too distant date, to enable me discuss with you my plans on how to move our country forward.” [myad]
The ancient city of Kano is once again gripped with uncertainty as gunmen suspected to be members of the deadly Boko Haram embarked on bomb explosion and sporadic gun shots today.
Reports reaching us indicated that the explosion and gun fire took place at the Federal College of Education, near the old site of the Bayero University, Kabuga.
It was gathered that students of the school who were in classes receiving lectures and the people in the neighbourhood took their heels while traders in the nearby shops hurriedly closed and ran away from the place.
As at the time of this report, there is no official report of any casualty but many people were feared to have been killed.
It was gathered that most of the casualties were women.
The Nigerian Army has announced the retrieval of Konduga, a town in Borno state, from members of the fighting Boko Haram, killing about 100 of them.
A statement from the Director of Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Olajide Laleye.said that Nigerian troops crushed members of Boko Haram terrorists in their attempt to take the strategic town of Konduga, on Tuesday night, 16 September 2014, killing over 100 of them in the process.
This was confirmed today in a statement signed by the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major General Chris Olukolade in his twitter handle. Olukolade said that the troops successfully crushed another attempt by terrorists who were on a revenge mission to Konduga, after 12 hours of fighting in the outskirts of the Borno State community.
“Troops are now combing the vicinity, in a cordon and search operation to determine the heavy casualties suffered by the terrorists in the encounter.” [myad]
The Nigerian ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) kick-started its preparation for the 2015 general elections last night with President Goodluck Jonathan holding a closed door meeting with members of the party’s national caucus. The meeting, which held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential, Abuja, was a prelude to the National Executive Council meeting of the party billed for Thursday. Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta said shortly after the meeting that the party’s election guidelines in 2015 dominated discussions at the meeting, which ended in the early hours of today. “Most of the discussions were centred on the 2015 elections, that is, preparations of the party for the 2015 elections. There were presentations by the National Working Committee. You know we have our National Executive Committee meeting on Thursday, and the guidelines for the party were discussed. “But most of the decisions will be taken at the NEC meeting on Thursday. What we did here was to brainstorm on certain issues that will be presented at the NEC meeting. “So, it is on that Thursday that a lot of the decisions that will guide us for the 2015 elections will be taken.” Reports have it that a meeting of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) has also been scheduled to hold at the Presidential Villa later today, ahead of tomorrow’s meeting of the National Executive Council at the party national secretariat. Those who were at the last night caucus meeting were Vice President Namadi Sambo; the President of the Senate, Sen. David Mark, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha. Others were the Leader of the Senate, Victor Ndoma-Egba; the Deputy Senate Leader, Abdul Ningi; the PDP Chairman, Adamu Muazu; the Deputy National Chairman, Uche Secondus, and a former PDP Chairman, Ahmadu Ali. The Secretary of the PDP BoT, Walid Jibril; the Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Rufai Alkali; the PDP National Women Leader, Kema Chikwe; the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, were also present. Governors in attendance were Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Gabriel Suswam (Benue), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Jonah Jang (Plateau) and Theodore Orji (Abia). [myad]
“This is a particularly difficult time for South Africa. Not in the recent history of our country have we had this large number of our people die in one incident outside the country.”
The South African President, Jacob Zuma made these statements today as reacted to the collapse of Synagogue Church of Nations in Lagos, Nigeria on Friday last week. President Zuma put the number of his country men and women that died in the collapse building at 67, even as Nigerian authorities put the number at 63.
The fallen multistory building served as a shopping mall and guesthouse at the sprawling campus of televangelist T.B. Joshua’s Synagogue, Church of All Nations, on the outskirts of Lagos.. South Africa’s government said its diplomats were at the scene since at least five South African church tour groups were there at the time. In Johannesburg, a man called into Talk Radio 702 to complain that a family member who had gone to the church was missing and that they were unable to get any information from the church or Nigerian government officials. South Africa has set up a hotline for concerned family members. A staff of the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye said that members of the agency have rescued a woman, alive, at about 2 a.m. this morning, adding: “We found her under the rubble. She walked away with only a little dislocation on her hand. She is very, very lucky.” Farinloye said that the building collapsed, contrary to TB Joshua’s claim that the collapse was caused by Boko Haram, because of poor construction work. He said workers were trying to build two additional floors onto an existing four-story structure without reinforcing the foundations. [myad]
The Niger state government has extended the resumption date for both primary and secondary schools to October 10 as against the federal government announced September 22nd..
The State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, said today in Minna, that the extension in date is to allow students and parents to celebrate the Ed-el Kabir together. The Muslim festival is expected to be observed on October 4th all over the Muslim world. [myad]
Senator Chris Ngige, Senator Abdullahi Adamu and former Vice President and Chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar during the courtesy visit by the APC Senate Caucus to his residence in Abuja on Tuesday. [myad]
Nigerians woke up on Tuesday, September 16 to be confronted with a news that 12 out of 18 Nigerian soldiers fighting members of Boko Haram, especially in the North East, who have been court marshaled have been sentenced to death by firing squad for their attempt to kill their General Officer Commanding (GOC), 7 Division, Major General Ahmed Mohammed. They were confirmed to have shot at his official car between May 13 and 14, 2014. They were found guilty of three out of the six count charges against them, which are conspiracy, mutiny and attempted murder of Major General Mohammed. The incident took place at the Maimalari Barracks, Maiduguri in the course of the ongoing counter insurgency campaign. The Maimalari Cantonment is the headquarters of 7 Division, the newest Division of the Nigerian Army. The court also found them guilty of preventing the movement of some of their injured colleagues to hospital and obstructing evacuation of their dead colleagues who were killed in ambush on their way from a operation in Chibok, Borno State. The court jailed one of the soldiers for 28 days with hard labour, while five were discharged and acquitted. Those who were sentenced to death are Jasper Braidolor, David Musa, Friday Onuh, Yusuf Shuaibu, Igonmu Emmanuel, Andrew Ugbede, Nurudeen Ahmed, Ifeanyi Alukagba, Alao Samuel, Amadi Chukwuma, Alan Linus, and Stephen Clement while those discharged were Naaman Samuel, Iseh Ubong, David Robert, Mohammed Sani and Sebastine Gwaba, as Jeremiah Echocho was sentenced to 28 days. The nine-member all military Court, headed by the President of the Court, Major General C.C. Okonkwo, found the soldiers guilty of insubordinate behaviour, use of abusive language, leveling false accusation against their superior officers, among others. Before their sentence, the legal team of the convicts had pleaded with the court marshial to “temper justice with mercy,” after narrating the pathetic stories of the family backgrounds of the convicted servicemen to the Court marshal team. One of the convicted soldiers was said to be the only son of his 80-year-old widowed mother, another, father of a five-month-old baby. The defence team in their argument prayed that giving the soldiers maximum sentence would do more harm than good, adding that it would increase the agony of their dependants. Of course, there is no doubt the fact that every military man has one of the two choices in war situation, the same as Nigeria is going through in the North East: to live or die, irrespective of the circumstances. And therefore, the question of an appeal to the authorities not to kill them would have been out of place. However, the fact that Nigeria needs as many soldiers as it can acquire to execute the terrorism war should make the government to have a rethink on this matter. The erring soldiers, though, argued that they were not well-equipped to face the superior fire-power of Boko Haram, a thing that infuriated them and made them to take arms against their GOC, did not have good point to want to live after the deed was done. We in Greenbarge Reporters appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan as the Commander-In-Chief, to consult with the superior officers in the armed forces with the sole aim of commuting the death sentence to either life imprisonment or otherwise. They could even be drafted back to the field of the battle with Boko Haram, with “guided attention.” One thing that needs to be stressed is that killing 12 Nigerian soldiers would amount to making Boko Haram to feel a sense of victory. That is to say that Nigeria needs everything, even including identified “devil” within, to win the war against the insurgents.
Nigeria Ministry of Aviation has confirmed that a private jet seized at the weekend by South African authorities stuck with $10 million (about N1.6 Billion) in cash meant for arms purchase, belongs to the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, even as the Pastor admitted that the jet was released on lease. Oritsejafor’s private plane with US registration number N808HG was one of two jets cited by South African officials on September 5. The jet arrived South Africa with $9.3 million cash loaded in several suitcases. News of the seizure of the cash broke over the weekend, triggering questions about the ownership of the jets and weapons they intended to purchase. Nigerian aviation authorities disclosed that one of the jets belonged to Pastor Oritsejafor while the second one was registered to Felix Idiga, the owner of Jafac Aviation Limited. Two Nigerians and an Israeli defense contractor, Eyal Mesiaka arrived in the jet when they were accosted in South Africa authorities. A South African source disclosed that Mr. Oritsejafor’s jet was released after top Nigerian officials intervened, claiming that the weapons to be purchased had the official blessing of the Nigerian government. The jet arrived with two plastic suitcases and two hand luggages with combination locks only known to the Isreali contractor, according to CityPress.
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
President Goodluck Jonathan has sympathized with the victims of today bomb blast attack at the Federal College of Education in Kano, especially the families of those who died in the attack.
Nigerians woke up on Tuesday, September 16 to be confronted with a news that 12 out of 18 Nigerian soldiers fighting members of Boko Haram, especially in the North East, who have been court marshaled have been sentenced to death by firing squad for their attempt to kill their General Officer Commanding (GOC), 7 Division, Major General Ahmed Mohammed. They were confirmed to have shot at his official car between May 13 and 14, 2014.
