I Join Robbery Gang To Build House And Give Testimony In Church, Pastor Confesses

July 6, 2014

“I joined armed robbery gang in order to get money to buy land and build my own house, so that I could give a testimony. Other people in the church had been giving testimonies, but I could not give any after the many years I had spent as a member.”
These were the confessional statements of Pastor in one of the new generation churches in Lagos, John Ogaba, a.k.a. General (43). He said that he had just completed pastoral training in the church. He was arrested along with three other suspected members of the gang on Lagos-Ibadan High way.
The leader of the gang, Charly Ebube (42) also confessed that the gang used to rob innocent motorists on highways by flashing fake police identity cards.
Ebube, a.k.a. Chairman, a native of Isele-Asaba, Delta State is the leader with Olawale Aminu (49), a native of Owode Obafemi, Ogun State, and Chidozie Aniekwe (29) from Arondizuogu, Imo State as active members.
Continuing with his confessional statement to the Police, Ogaba said: “I am a pastor. I completed a pastoral training, but I am yet to be ordained. I only head a house fellowship.
“I was into transportation and trading before I met Charly who lured me into his gang in July 2011. My role in the gang was to act as an assistant to Charly.
“I also joined the gang because between 2011 and 2013, I passed through some horrible financial problems caused by family illnesses. My sons and daughters became seriously sick and the hospitals gave me very high bills that consumed all the money I had.
“We operated from Monday to Friday. We would be on the highway looking for victims while on Saturdays, we would go home to see our families. Sometimes our vehicle would break down and we would have to go and repair it for two days.
“We used to lodge in an hotel in the Sango area of Ibadan, but the hotel’s management did not know that we were armed robbers because we disguised as responsible men any time we went there to lodge. We used to take the rooms that were very close to the backyard. We would not go to the bar to avoid meeting people who would know us.”
Also confessing his role in the gang, the leader of the gang, Charly said: “I was a trader before I became an armed robber. I live at No. 8 Zone B, Odono Elewe, Ibadan, Oyo State. I have a house in Ibadan. I was building a 12-room hotel in my village before it was destroyed by people who were fighting over the land.
“I was arrested during a robbery operation. We did not know that the operatives of the SARS were trailing us. As we reached where we wanted to do the operation and came down from our vehicle, they pounced on us and arrested us.
“We were not using guns. We were using fake police ID cards to stop any vehicle we intended to rob. We pretended to be police officers on patrol. Once we saw a vehicle we wanted to rob, we would flash the fake ID cards for the driver to stop. We robbed only on highways, particularly when we got information that a trader was carrying a large sum of money or had just sold his goods and was taking the money home or to the bank.
“Each of us went to operation with three different clothes to enable us to disguise after an operation. I have a three-bedroom flat in Ibadan.
“It was not in every operation that we got something. I bought a Space Wagon car for N388,000, and also bought a Nissan Micra for my wife for N300,000. I bought one Mikano generator which I use in my house.
“Each time my wife sought to know where I used to go to for two or three nights, I would tell her that I went on a business trip to Tin Can Island, Apapa, Lagos, and she would believe me. I have four children. I opened a beer parlour for my wife at Ibadan with N1.5 million.
“I was introduced to robbery by one Egbo Lance. He has since travelled to South Africa or Italy after one successful robbery operation we did together. I took charge when he travelled abroad and started recruiting new members.
“After 10 operations, any member is free to back out, so far he swears to an oath not to betray the gang or return to it if he is broke.”
Asked if he had any regrets, Charly said: “My wife will not be happy to hear that my friends and I were arrested for armed robbery. I used to tell her that they were my business partners. I had wanted to resign after building a hotel, but I changed my mind when the hotel was demolished.
“If I regain my freedom, I will never engage in robbery again. It is better to be poor than to be arrested for armed robbery. I am finished. Please tell my wife and children that I am a victim of circumstances. Don’t tell them that their father is an armed robber.”
The third suspect, Olawale, who claimed to have five children, said: “What is paining me now is that my wife does not know that I am an armed robber. If she gets to know that I have been arrested, she will become hypertensive. I am the gang’s operational driver. I drive a Nissan Primera car painted in police colour with police stickers on the windscreen.
“It is our chairman, Charly, who holds the fake police ID card. He is the commander of the gang and he flashed it to the driver of any vehicle we intended to stop and rob. I joined the gang in December last year. I was riding okada (commercial motorcycle) before I joined the gang last year.
“It was the accommodation problem that took me to Charles for help. I saw him as a very generous rich man. He used to give me N2,000 to go and drink and eat pepper soup every week.
“When I had the problem, I met him and he promised to help me solve my problem and even set me free from poverty. He told me where to meet him so that together we could go to Tin Can Island, Apapa, Lagos to do business. I did not know that we were going to rob on the highways.
“When they started operation, I was surprised. But I could not do anything because they would kill me if I acted funny. Most importantly, I needed money desperately to solve my accommodation problem. Unfortunately, the money I got after the first operation made me think of going to more operations.
“Even the first time he asked me to come and see him at the hotel, he asked whether I could drive and I thought he wanted to give me a commercial bus to drive for him. I did not know that he was preparing me for a robbery operation.
“It was when I was arrested that my eyes opened. Even when he gave me a Nissan Premeira car, I thought it was for commercial purposes until he asked me to slow down on a highway and he flashed his ID card to the driver of a vehicle. When the driver parked, they asked to park in front of the vehicle. They came down and went to the vehicle. I was asked to sit in the vehicle while they went to do the job. When they had finished with the vehicle, they joined me and we zoomed off.
“I operated with the gang more than six times. From the first operation, I got N90,000. The second operation fetched me N55,000 and the third one N10,000. But I got nothing from the fourth, fifth and sixth operations, while we were arrested during the seventh one.”
The fourth suspect, Chidozie, who said he was born in 1955 and hails from Arondizogu, Ideato LGA, Imo State said: “I drive commercial bus. I reside at No. 53 Owodunni Street by Orile. I have a wife and two children. My wife left me because I had not done the marriage rites.
“The owner of the LT bus I was driving bought it with hire purchase and when I could not meet up with the sum agreed as daily returns, he collected the bus from me. I became jobless and my family started suffering hunger and starvation.
“That was the situation I was when I met Charles and Ogaba at Alafia Bus Stop in Orile Iganmu, Lagos. My only regret is that I had planned to quit the gang after the last operation in which we were arrested.
“I would not have been arrested if I had listened to my wife because she had told me that she dreamt that policemen arrested me during one of my business trips. I did not tell her that my business was highway robbery.”

[myad]

US Becomes The Largest Oil Producer, Overtakes Saudi Arabia, Russia

Greenbarge Reporters

July 5, 2014

United States of America has become the largest producer of oil and gas in the world overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia in last six months according to a research from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, BoAML.

The research showed that US oil production rose by 70 per cent since it dipped in 2008, while its liquefied natural gas output has jumped by 40 per cent since 2005.

Rising U.S. oil supplies come as an Islamist insurgency threatens output in Iraq, the second-largest producer in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC after Saudi Arabia.

Territorial gains in northern Iraq by a group calling itself the Islamic State has spurred concerns that oil flows from the south could be disrupted.

Exports from Libya have been disrupted by protests, while Nigeria’s production is threatened by oil theft and sabotage.

Nonetheless, examining the data on a state-by-state basis, BoAML also found a strong relationship between US employment growth and the production of oil and gas over the last five years.

Furthermore, wage rises have been strongest in those states with increasing oil output over the same period.
Energy intensive industries like chemicals have been particular beneficiaries of the jump in shale production. But the service sector has also had a taste of the action.

BoAML pointed out that most of the jobs waiting tables and building houses in North Dakota, the fastest growing state last year, can be traced to the boom in shale oil.

Cash has been pouring into the oil and natural gas sector, reaching close to 20 per cent of total us private fixed structure investment, the highest level ever in US history at $200bn a year and almost as much as residential investment.

However, despite America’s stellar performance, it has also been the case that crude production outside the world’s largest economy has been lacklustre in recent months.

[myad]

Aliko Dangote Romances With Idea Of University Of Industry

Greenbarge Reporters

July 4, 2014

The richest man in Africa and foremost Nigerian industrialist, Alhaji Aliko Dangote is beleived to be planning to turn his Academy in Obajana, Kogi state into a full fledge University with bias for industrial production.
Experts who have already seen the proposed Dangote University as ‘Nigerian Havar’ have expressed confidence that when formerly established, it will create the spark for the Nigeria’s industrial take off.
The Dangote University is being mooted against the background of the Nigeria industrial revolution plan (NIRP)which President Goodluck Jonathan launched in February and the National Enterprise Development Plan(NEDP).
The NIRP is tergetted at increasing the contribution of the manufacturing sector to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the present 4% to more than 10% over the next five years.
The proposed Dangote University, according to inside sources, will help the Federal Government in achieving its dreams with a mind set on the principle that no nation can develop educationally without the required educational system in place.
Speaking on the philosophy behind the establishment of the Dangote Academy, a fore-runner to the proposed University, the Director, Mr. Paramjit Pabby said: “The philosophy behind the establishment of the Academy is to help get the required skills for our companies which are in short supply in Nigeria.”
The Dangote Academy currently runs Graduate Engineer Trainees Scheme(GET), Junior Technicians Scheme (JTS), Management Skills and Leadership training scheme, among others.
Also, Head of Management Development of the Academy, Mr. Hassan Salisu, said that the Academy is aimed at supporting the Nigeria’s educational system by emphasizing practical application of knowledge and skills.
He said that the absorbed graduates have started adding value to the company and that Dangote Group may not need to shop for engineers outside the shores of Nigeria in the nearest future.
According to him, the Academy, which one of its kind in the country, has gulped huge amount of money.
Fielding questions from newsmen, the Assistant General Manager(AGM) Training of the Dangote Cement Plc, Engr. Haruna Adinoyi said the phase I and II of the Dangote Academy campus is expected to accommodate about 550 trainees at a go.
He said that so far, about 450 Graduate Trainees and Junior Technicians have been trained and absorbed; about 150 are currently undergoing training at different levels; while 300 trainees are expected to join later in the year.

[myad]

All Progressives Congress Describes Soldiers’ Rampage In Lagos As Senseless Wilderness.

Greenbarge Reporters

July 4, 2014

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned in the strongest terms, the reign of terror and brigandage launched on the streets of Lagos by soldiers ostensibly protesting the alleged accidental death of a soldier who was involved in an accident with a BRT bus on Ikorodu Road Lagos. The party, which described the action of the soldiers as senseless wilderness, frowned at an attempt by a spokesman of the Nigerian Army to deny the involvement of soldiers in that shameful act.
In a statement in Lagos today by the state Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, the party said that the untamed and uncivilized conduct of the soldiers, which involved burning many BRT buses and inflicting injuries and pains on other Lagosians is disgraceful and bore danger to the peace and security of Lagos state and Nigeria.
The party warned that allowing these soldiers to get away with this act of brazen brigandage will send clear signals that democracy is endangered.
“First, we commiserate with the soldier that was involved in the accident and we express our heartfelt sympathy to him and his family. But then, it is an accident and could have happened to anybody.
“We do not know the grounds upon which these soldiers went on rampage. From reports we got, it was purely an accident and there are reports that the said soldier did not die. We wonder what can make soldiers, paid and maintained to guarantee the security of the country should go so brazenly against the people, burning buses that serve to alleviate the plight of the masses and inflicting injury to passers-by. We wonder what is behind the raw anger displayed by these unruly soldiers on the streets of Lagos. We wonder what type of training these soldiers receive and we wonder what should turn those saddled with the defense of the nation to persecutors of the people.
“We are even more angry that the Army, instead of wading in and dousing the tension caused by this serious affront on the peace and security of Lagos, is busy trying to childishly obfuscate the issue, going by the statement by its spokesman,Olajide Olaleye, who was reported to state that area boys and not soldiers were responsible for the burning of the BRT buses.
“We wonder what the spokesman was trying to tell the many people that witnessed the rampage, some of whom were injured in that moment of senseless wildness.
“We call on the Military high command to move in and order a full scale investigation into the deliberate mayhem and ensure that all culprits are fished out and punished. We demand that an open investigation be instituted to ascertain the reason for that wild act that endangered the peace and security of Lagos and Lagosians. “We believe that the findings of the investigation panel will go a long way to prevent such ugly incidence in the future.”

[myad]

Nigerian Football Body Renews Keshi’s Contract For N168 Million

Greenbarge Reporters

July 4, 2014

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has renewed, for another two-year, at the cost of N168 Million, the contract of Stephen Keshi, the Head Coach of the nation’s senior football team, Super Eagles.

This may have foreclosed his announced resignation immediately after the team lost 2-0 to France last week in the ongoing world cup tournament in Brazil.

Keshi had announced on Monday that he would be standing down as Eagles manager even as he told the players in the dressing room that the NFF had not offered him a new contract and as such would be moving on, prompting speculation about who would be his replacement.

Earlier this week, however, NFF executive committee member, Emeka Inyama, said the federation had not received any formal notification from Keshi. It appears that both the NFF and Keshi are waiting for the other to get in touch, so in order the break the logjam, the federation is proposing a new two-year deal to the coach.

Under the terms of the new N168m (£602,477) deal, Keshi’s monthly salary would also be increased to N7m (£25,103) from the N5m (£17,930) he was earning under his previous contract. It is still uncertain when the contract will be formally presented to Keshi and whether he will accept it or not.

Keshi had complained about his previous contract saying it did not make provision for assistants, a house and a car among other things, so may likely insist that any new one does. It is believed that if Keshi refuses the contract, the NFF will look to hire a foreign coach, who will be assisted by a local assistant. [myad]

Soldiers Go Haywire In Lagos, Block Roads, Fire Shots, Burn Buses

Greenbarge Reporters

July 4, 2014

Nigerian soldiers have been on rampage since morning today, blocking roads, firing shots into the air and burning several buses in Lagos following the death of a soldier in a bus accident.

The mayhem unleashed on Lagos since morning has been likened by some Lagos residents to the country’s former military dictatorship.

Publisher of children books, Bunmi Ajayi who shut the doors of his office as the shootings were going on said: “they (soldiers) were armed to the teeth. We are all afraid. Everybody was afraid of stray bullets because the soldiers were shooting sporadically (in the air) to scare away people.”

Another witness, Segun Alabi, said soldiers were preventing buses from passing through and confiscating and destroying people’s smartphones to prevent witnesses filming them.

The Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for Lagos state, Femi Oke-Osanyitolu said: “the rampaging soldiers have already burnt five … buses, referring to the incidence as “barbaric and uncivilized.”

The soldiers, he said, were reacting to the killing of one of their number who was hit by a bus while riding a motorcycle.

The governor of the state, Babatunde Raji Fashola, is said to be currently talking with the superior officers of the army to restore order within the area, around Ikorodu Road, on the sprawling Lagos mainland, Oke-Osanyitoluhe said.

The defence spokesman did not immediately comment on the soldiers’ behaviour. Disturbances continued for several hours from the morning into the afternoon.

Local TV stations broadcast pictures of the buses up in flames. Twitter buzzed with comments from Lagos residents comparing it to the days of military dictatorship in the 1970s and 80s.

Rights groups have noted since the return of democracy the abuses and indiscipline which have remained the problem of the soldiers, especially in the remote northeast, where Boko Haram is threatening the stability of the country. [myad]

Go Back To Work, Reps Appeals To Striking Nigerian Doctors

Greenbarge Reporters

July 4, 2014

The Nigeria House of Representatives has asked the medical doctors in the country who began an indefinite nationwide strike on Tuesday, to go back to work

This was even as the House mandated its Committee on Health to formally wade into the industrial crisis which is pitting the umbrella body of the medical doctors, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) against the Federal Ministry of Health.

The committee, which has a week to accomplish its task and report back to the House, is expected to find amicable ways of resolving the impasse.

The House, acting on a motion on ‘urgent need to resolve the crisis in the health sector’ moved by the Minority Whip, Hon. Samson Osagie (APC, Edo), urged the NMA and its members to call off the strike they embarked upon on Tuesday.

The lawmakers also appealed to the federal government “to do everything possible as a matter of utmost urgency to have the crisis resolved in the interest of the citizens of this country.

“From the NMA perspective, a number of issues, including the appointment of surgeon-general for the federation, payment of hazard allowances to doctors, retirement age of doctors, expansion of the NHIS (National Health Insurance Scheme) to cover a wider spectrum of the society among others are also some of the issues that the National Assembly (has) passed resolutions on,” he noted.

He expressed worry that the citizens stand a very high risk during emergencies, if medical services are not made available, given the very critical state of insecurity in Nigeria. [myad]

Balarabe Musa Says Boko Haram Is Sponsored By Either Fed Govt, Foreign Imperialists Or Bands Of Thieves

Greenbarge Reporters

July 4, 2014

Nigeria’s Second Republic Kaduna state governor, Alhaji Balarabe Musa has said that sponsors of the deadly Boko Haram may be either the Federal Government or bands of thieves in the country or foreign imperialists.

The sponsors, he insisted: “must be either the Federal Government or bands of thieves in the country, who are rich; or foreign imperialist, who have targeted Nigeria for disintegration by 2015. These are the forces we should look at as possible sponsors of this insurgency working towards the destabilisation of Nigeria.”

Balarabe, who spoke in an interview with The Punch newspaper dismissed the insinuations in many quarters that Boko Haram is being sponsored by Northern elders, adding: “it is irrelevant because the so-called northern leaders are not the Federal Government. They cannot control any part of the country.

“They are just elders, who have been identified for their roles or age. They have no power. They don’t even have moral authority. It is the Federal Government that has the legal power and moral authority to face the situation. The highest authorities in the North are the governors.

“Even the governors can’t do much. They are the chief security officers of their states but they don’t control the police, the army and other security services. They don’t even control the funds that could have enabled them to perform.”

The former governor under the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) regretted the inability of the federal government to resolve the issue of the abduction of the schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State, and the continued abduction of women and children.

He said that this is a show of gross incompetence on the part of the Federal Government, saying that apart from that, “President Goodluck Jonathan and his government went ahead to unpatriotically invite foreigners to solve a problem that the Federal Government has the capacity to solve.

“And up till today, the foreigners have not been able to identify where the abducted children are. Nothing concrete is coming both from the Federal Government and those invited to help.”

He described members of Boko Haram as clearly unIslamic, saying that they are violating the fundamental tenets of Islam one of which is the dignity of women folk.

“It is a consensus that the Boko Haram insurgents are agents that are out to destabilise the country either by the Federal Government itself or some band of thieves or by foreign imperialists. There is no way a sectional group in Nigeria can mount such insurgency as the Boko Haram. They don’t have the resources; they don’t have the cohesion or coordination.” [myad]

Governor Oshiomhole Reverses Self, Recalls Sacked Teachers

Greenbarge Reporters

July 4, 2014

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has reversed himself over planned competency test for teachers in the state, even as he recalled the 936 teachers who were sacked over certificate discrepancies and age falsification.

Governor Oshiomhole said, when he met with the teachers’ union and the Nigeria Labour Congress, that government’s earlier decision to conduct the competency test was borne out of its commitment to uplift the standard of education in the state and the discovery that some teachers were not qualified or up to date with recent teaching methods.

“Our insistence on the competency test must be seen in this light. However, having listened to all suggestions and consultations with various groups, government has agreed to set aside the competency or assessment test in order to re- assure Edo workers that it has no intention to sack anyone”, he said.

He said in place of the test, government would introduce training and re-training programmes for teachers and other civil servants with welfare packages during such trainings.

“On the teachers with falsified age declaration with criminal intentions to cheat, government has resolved to pardon them and retire those whose records show that they are above 60 years while those below 60 years are to return to the classroom with their names returned to the payroll and will benefit from the training programmes. Following investigation, the alleged ghost workers in Ovia North East LGA who were found to have actually been on ground will have their two months pending salaries paid,” he added.

Responding, the NLC, TUC, and NUT thanked the governor, saying the prolonged crisis in the leadership of the organised labour as it affects teachers and workers in the state would now cease. They promised to continue to support his administration. [myad]

Government Interference: FIFA May Ban Nigeria Again

Greenbarge Reporters

July 4, 2014

African champions Nigeria risk an international ban due to government interference after a court sacked the football federation’s executive committee.

Nigerian sports minister Tammy Danagogo on Thursday appointed Lawrence Katiken as sole administrator of the NFF.

The move comes in the wake of Nigeria’s World Cup campaign which came to an end on Monday with defeat to France in the last 16.

Danagogo acted after a high court in Plateau State granted an injunction stopping elected NFF President, Aminu Maigari, his executive committee and the NFF congress from office.

This represents direct interference by government in football, which has in the past incurred worldwide bans handed down by FIFA.

Nigeria were threatened with a FIFA ban in 2010 just after the Super Eagles crashed out of the 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa.

This was as a result of the federal government’s decision to withdraw the country from all international competitions for two years and sack the NFF management.

The government also called for a corruption probe of the NFF.

However, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan will later rescind this decision for FIFA to spare the country.

But later in 2010, the FIFA hammer finally fell on the country when top Nigeria FA officials were dragged before a court.

The ban was only quashed when the court ruling was set aside.

Nigeria reached the knockout stage of the World Cup in Brazil for only the third time in their history after 1994 and 1998.

Last year, the country also won the Africa Cup of Nations as well as a fourth FIFA U17 World Cup. [myad]

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