Gunmen posing as Boko Haram and in military uniform were said to have invaded four towns in Borno state in the early hours of today, killing no fewer than 210, Senator representing Borno Central in the Senate, Zannah Ahmed has lamented.

The senator claimed that the attackers were speaking in English language which was a departure from the Hausa and Kanuri language spoken by the Boko Haram insurgents.

According to him, the military post in Gamboru which received a distress call from the people of Kala Balge avoided the town, claiming that it was not under its area of command.
The senator who said he was compelled to speak out because his people were being killed on a daily basis and felt obliged to raise his voice, said that what is happening in Borno is beyond understanding.

“It is a must for me to speak since peoples’ lives are involved and they are my people. All these are happening in my constituency and it will be wrong to keep quiet. I feel so much pained and would have not love to speak but definitely my conscience will not let me do that”, he lamented.
He said 210 people were slaughtered by the marauders who dressed in military uniform and attacked the towns in two armoured personnel cars and seven double cabin pickups.

According to him, they attacked a Teachers College in Dikwa and killed seven people, burnt down the school library and administrative block.

He claimed that Kala Balge was the worst hit, where 60 people were killed by the armed men who went on rampage killing everything in sight.

He said after they left Kala Balge, they went berserk and attacked three other towns in the area where a total of 150 persons were killed.

Though he could not give exact names of two of the town at the time of filing the story last night, among the towns attacked was Gambulga.

He said his people told him that: “Those people who attacked them were speaking English and could either be machineries from within the country or from outside.”
He stated the people spoke with some level of surety that those that attacked “did not look like Boko Haram”.

He lamented that as he was presently speaking, the people of the area were fleeing to neighbouring Cameroon while some have already fled to Gamboru Ngala in the country.
“It is unfortunate that when the Army post in Gamboru Ngala were informed, they went back after covering few kilometres as the soldiers  insisted that it was outside their command area.”

President Goodluck Jonathan, today, simply ignored the request by people of the South Eastern Zone of the country to use the unity rally of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), held in Enugu, hours ago, to publicly declare his 2015 second term interest.
Leaders of the Zone had, one after the other, mounted the soapbox and made two requests on the President: to declare his second term interest for the 2015 election and not to leave the venue of the unity rally without declaring such interest.
The South East leaders insisted that Jonathan must run for the 2015 election so that when he wins the second term, he would complete the job on the second Niger Bridge which he flagged off last month.
“We are not talking about the achievements of Mr. President since he became President and we are not talking about his plans for more development. The two things we are requesting the President to do for us in this zone is that he should declare his interest to go for second term in 2015 and the second one is that he should not leave here (Enugu) today without making such declaration,” almost all the leaders who spoke trode the same line.
However, when it was his turn to speak and respond to the South East leaders, President Jonathan carefully avoided the issue of his second term interest but instead, launched attack on opposition political party, apparently All Progressives Congress (APC).
The President took members of the opposition who described themselves as progressives to the cleaner.
“I don’t see anything ‘progressive’ about some of the opposition political parties.
“One party tags itself as progressives but where are they progressing to. It is only in such progressive party that you find an ex-governor determining who gets what and how. Is that what you mean by progressives?”
He also took a swipe on APC over ward congress and candidates’ selection, saying that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the only democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only party that would not cancel ward congresses across the states without considering the wishes of its members.
He said that PDP is not like another party where a local government chairman can cancel a ward congress for no justifiable reason and without the peoples’ opinions.
Jonathan said the PDP is the only political platform in Nigeria where the voice of the people could count and decisions were taken based on the majority and popular vote.
“We are not like one party in this country where one man or a group of people determine how the party is run.
“The national chairman of the PDP or any of its governors can’t cancel a ward congress of the party just like that and with impunity. I, as the President, don’t even have the powers to do so, but it is happening in a political party in this country.”
Jonathan advised Igbo people to support the PDP, assuring them that the party “would not disappoint you.”
According to him, PDP is the only democratic party that could take Nigeria to join the rest of the democratic world.
“It is the only party where the President would not impose a candidate. It is the only party where people like me from a non-privileged background can stand here and talk.”
The President vowed that the PDP would capture Imo State in 2015 and complete the circle in the South-East.
“In the South-East, the PDP is total. Every state has a maximum of three senators and a minimum of three senators. It is now clear the South-East is a PDP zone.
“We will take over the governorship seat of the other state in the South-East come 2015. We have been very magnanimous but we are going to clear the seats totally.”
The Senate President, David Mark had earlier advised the President to ignore people that are criticizing his government and that he should remain focus in the transformation programme of his government.
Mark comforted President Jonathan by saying that if he stomach to criticisms, he would not be distracted, but would rather make him better.

Delegates at the National Conference are believed to have concluded arrangements to float 20 standing committees that will, from Monday, begin details insight into the confab’s mandate. This is coming after the conclusion, yesterday, of the debates on the inaugural speech of President Goodluck Jonathan, with special focus one high cost of governance, state creation, returning to 12-state structure, corruption, insecurity and federalism.

It was learnt that the Conference Chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi, his deputy, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, the Secretary, Mrs. Valerie Azinge; the assistant secretary, Conference Proceedings, Dr. Akilu Indabawa; Assistant Secretary, Finance and Administration, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu and the Assistant Secretary, Media and Communications, Akpandem James, met for several hours between Wednesday night and early hours of yesterday to allocate delegates into the 20 standing committees.

Rain for this year began yesterday in Kwara state with sad story of flood, resulting in the death of three people including two children and a young person. They drowned in heavy downpour which started at about 11.00pm around the State capital.

Report has it that properties worth several millions of naira were destroyed, even as 25 cars were swept away from where they were parked.

Report also has it that the flood cut off a large chunk of soil from beneath the rail track of the Nigeria Railway Corporation, cutting through the road thereby making it impassable for the train. A section of the rail track behind Kingdom Heritage Secondary school was also affected.

Consequently no fewer than 1000 passengers on a train travelling from Lagos to the northern part of the country were stranded.