Gunmen kill 16 at Deeper Life Church during service

By Mohammed Bashir, Lokoja and Joseph Abiodun, Maiduguri.

General Oveseer of Deeper life Church Pastor Kumuyi

-Pastor among the dead in Kogi night attack -Four killed in Borno -Explosives fired at Sokoto police station

IT was like a scene from a war film. A crowd of worshippers in a church  — perhaps praying, their eyes shut — and suddenly the eerie sounds of guns. Pandemonium. Blood, tears and anguish.
But it was no movie. All was real last night in Okene, Kogi State where unknown gunmen stormed a church and opened fire on worshippers, killing no fewer than 16.
Killed were worshippers of Deeper Life Bible Church opposite the Federal College of Education (FCE). Many were injured. 
“We are shocked. It is serious,” a Pastor told The Nation last night.
The gunmen, who were said to be bearing sophisticated weapons, stormed the church during the Bible Study, a Monday programme, at about 7p.m., shooting indiscriminately. 
The gunmen reportedly took the worshippers by surprise. They blocked all entrances into the church, preventing people from escaping as they fired indiscriminately at the worshippers.
A source said 15 worshippers died on the spot; one died in the hospital.
“As I am talking to you now, we have just counted 16 bodies. No fewer than nine others have been rushed to the Okene General Hospital Okene,” the source said.
Among the dead was the local government area Pastor, according to a source who spoke in Lagos where news of the incident sent members into a shock.
One of the injured is the Dean of Student Affairs of the FCE.
The attack came two weeks after an account officer with FCE, Okene was abducted from his home and murdered. An attack on the Living Faith Church on Lagos Road in Okene was last month repelled by security operatives who stopped an explosive-laden vehicle parked by  road side.
Kogi Police spokesman Simon Ile, who confirmed the incident, said he was yet to get details of the incident.
 He declined to speak on the number of casualties. He said the command was awaiting reports from the divisional police officer in charge of the area.
Ile said the police would go after the perpetrators of the dastardly act and bring them to justice.
The Commander of Army Headquarters Task Force, Lt Colonel Gabriel Olorunyomi, also confirmed the incident. He said: “Unknown gunmen invaded the Deeper Life Church this night (Monday) during a worship service and opened fire at the worshippers.”
He said 15 people died instantly while the 16th person died in the hospital.
The Military Joint Task Force cordoned off the area. 
It could not be immediately ascertained how many worshipers were in the church at the time of the attack.
Gunmen believed to be members of Boko Haram struck again in Sokoto State yesterday.
They bombed a police station in Shagari Village about   70 kilometres to Sokoto, the state capital.
Shagari is the home town of Second Republic President Shehu Shagari. The police station that was attacked is a few metres away from his home.
A police source said the attackers came on a motorbike and tossed dynamites at the police outpost while firing at the policemen on duty. 
Sokoto, the seat of the Caliphate, was attacked last week.
Boko Haram, the violent Islamist sect, yesterday claimed responsibility for Sunday’s killing of six soldiers and two civilians in Damturu, the Yobe State capital.
The group said it was responsible for other weekend attacks in the Northeast.
Also on Sunday night, four people were killed in their homes by suspected Boko Haram members in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, as the Joint Task Force (JTF) alerted the public to an impending series of suicide bombings in the city.
In an email statement attributed to a Boko Haram (Wester Education is a sin) spokesman and obtained by The Associated Press yesterday, the group said “One of (their) fighters” caused an explosion Sunday in Damaturu.
Police say six soldiers and two civilians were killed in the blast.
The statement also claimed responsibility for two other attacks in two other northeast cities. It was not immediately clear which attacks it was referring to.
The statement comes after an Internet video featuring the sect’s leader was posted on YouTube on Saturday.
Boko Haram is held responsible for more than 660 deaths this year alone according to an AP count.
Apart from Sunday’s attack in Damaturu, the Emir of Fika was attacked on Friday in a suicide bid but he escaped. His orderly died
A former Commissioner for the Environment in Borno State Alhaji Abdulkadir Kaasa, was shot dead in his home in Maiduguri on Sunday.
Two of the victims of Sunday night  killings in Maiduguri were residents of Lawan Bukar, where Alhaji Fannami Gubio, the original candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) in the governorship election in 2011 was killed.
Another victim was killed in the Railway Quarters, where the headquarters of the sect was located before the 2009 clampdown. It was there that its leader Mohammed Yusuf was killed by security operatives alongside dozens of his followers.
One other person was killed at Gamboru Ward. The killing caused apprehension among residents of the town.
Though there was no official confirmation at press time, a military source who spoke anonymously told reporters that the military had intensified efforts at getting the culprits.
The JTF yesterday alerted the public to the plan of the sect to undertake massive snatching of vehicles in Maiduguri and environs which they will later use for suicide missions. 
The vehicles, according to the task force, would be laden with explosives and used to bomb strategic locations and cause breach of the peace in the town. The statement signed by the task force field operations officer, Col. Victor Ebhaleme reads: “The JTF wishes to alert members of the public of the desperate moves by Boko Haram terrorists to steal/ snatch vehicles for suicide bombings.”
He urged those whose vehicles have been stolen to immediately report the theft to the nearest police station or to the JTF. He warned that anyone who failed to report and his vehicle is used as a courier of bombs would be treated as an accomplice of the sect.

Tough time ahead for Jonathan over PIB

By Reuters.

President Jonathan

 

Will the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) have a better outing at the National Assembly this time around? Not really! Rebellious lawmakers will seriously test President Goodluck Jonathan’s resolve to push it through in its present form, reports Reuters

Nigeria’s landmark energy bill could revive Africa’s biggest oil industry and improve President Goodluck Jonathan’s reputation, but rebellious lawmakers will seriously test his resolve to push it through in its present form.
The Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) would bring root and branch reform to an industry that produces 80 percent of government revenues but has been plagued by corruption and mismanagement for decades.
The bill has been stuck in parliament for more than five years, casting a cloud of regulatory uncertainty over the sector and driving billions of dollars of investment away to rival oil producing nations. If the uncertainty is left unresolved, oil revenues could soon start falling.
The wide-ranging bill would change working terms for oil majors like Shell and Exxon and partly privatise the national oil firm, but has been held up as government and oil firms argued over terms.
Nigeria is among the world’s top ten oil exporters and a key supplier to the United States, China and Europe because its light, sweet crude is ideal for making motor fuel. It is home to the world’s seventh-largest gas reserves and has more proven oil in the ground than the rest of sub-Saharan Africa combined.
If Jonathan can pass the bill, it could help restore a presidency battered by an Islamist insurgency in the north, an abortive attempt to remove a popular fuel subsidy and a raft of corruption scandals, since he won an election last year.
“As a president who came to power with a landmark reform agenda, the passage and implementation of the PIB will provide a key gauge of Jonathan’s performance in office,” said Roddy Barclay, West Africa analyst at Control Risks, a consultancy.
“Having suffered numerous damaging public setbacks in recent months, making headway on this key piece of legislation would go some way to restoring his international standing.”

REBELLIOUS PARLIAMENT

Jonathan’s explicit endorsement of the bill gives it a better chance of passing than previous versions, but his increasingly tense relationship with parliament means he is likely to have to concede ground or face embarrassing delays.
Parliament returns from recess to debate the PIB in mid-September but several lawmakers have told Reuters that the PIB won’t get an easy ride and they intend on making major changes.
“We will not be subjected to pressure to pass the PIB. It will not get a speedy passage but a thorough passage,” Zakari Mohammed, spokesman for the lower house, told Reuters.
Jonathan’s team had made it clear they are expecting a swift passage of a draft he has signed off on.
The president and his close ally Oil Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke will be given greater powers in the latest draft, which is likely to be a sticking point with many lawmakers who believe the executive arm of government is already too dominant.
“We’ve seen the powers given to the oil minister in the PIB and there is no way we’re going to allow our heritage to be handed over to any individual,” one member of the House of Representatives told Reuters, asking not to be named.
Relations between parliament and Jonathan’s administration have soured this year, as rows flared up over the budget and several parliamentary probes into oil corruption.
“We want this to pass, and it will, but not just the way the president and the oil minister want. No way,” the lawmaker said.
There is however always the possibility lawmakers could improve transparency in the bill, which analysts say falls far short of what was hoped.
Besides giving powers to the oil minister, Jonathan’s committee also added a clause that would allow the president to give oil licenses out at his own discretion, a backward step parliament is likely to reverse.
“This unfavourable sentiment towards the president and oil minister may actually be positive towards giving Nigeria a reasonably acceptable PIB,” Clement Nwankwo, director at the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre in Abuja, said.
Nwankwo, who works closely with the national assembly, believes the PIB won’t pass for around 9 months.
Whatever the bill ends up looking like, passing it would at least end the uncertainty which has prevented Nigeria from holding an oil licensing round for five years.
It may also attract investment into natural gas, helping end chronic power shortages. That would provide the kind of legacy Jonathan indicated he wanted before winning last year’s vote.

Governors divided over state police.

By Yusuf Alli, Abuja.

Chairman Governor's forum Gov. Amaechi

Governors seem set for a stormy meeting today in Abuja, with some states withdrawing their support for state police.
Governors elected on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Progressive Grand Alliance and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South are insisting on state police – an idea initially backed by 34 of the 36 governors.
Northern governors are backing out of the pact – to the amazement of their southern colleagues.
But the southern governors have got support from  Plateau State helmsman Jonah Jang, who is backing the idea.
Of the 36 states, 18 are in favour of state police; 17 are against and one is non-committal.
According to two of the governors, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent, it is surprising that the Northern governors are backing out
One of the governors said: “Ahead of our session in Abuja on Tuesday (today), we are still insisting on state police. So far, all the governors in the South, irrespective of parties, are standing by our position on the creation of state police. I can tell you that state police has the endorsement of ACN, APGA and PDP governors in the South.
“What happened was that we all met and discussed extensively on state police. At the end of our meeting, 34 out of the 36 governors signed up for state police. Only Benue and Kebbi did not sign up. 
“Benue State , Governor Gabriel Suswam was not in the country when the matter came up and since he did not have the details of our meeting, he said he won’t rush at taking any decision.
“We opted for state security because we were all worried about the state of insecurity in the country and how to address the drift.
“It is also international best practices to reduce security to a manageable level that will benefit the citizenry. It is apparent that we cannot continue with a centralised police structure.
“The amazing thing is how Northern governors, whose states are under security siege, would have to back out at the last minute. We are suspecting that they are under a different political influence.”
The source noted that in the 60s, security in the North was managed by the Native Authority Police. It is surprising that the region is withdrawing from an initiative it had successfully pioneered,” he said, adding:
“And state police idea is not different from a new security initiative called ‘grassroots engagement’, which was recently suggested by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-Military President Ibrahim Babangida.”
Another governor from the South said: “I think by Tuesday, we will be able to determine whether we still need the Nigeria Governors Forum or not.
“Leaders should learn to stand by agreement or consensus on issues.”
A governor from the North admitted that it was true that at the level of Nigeria Governors Forum, state police was accepted but some of the meetings were attended by Deputy Governors who did not fully understand the implications of such a security system.
He said the Northern Governors Forum later weighed all options and discovered that the nation is not ripe for state police.
“The fears of the Northern governors border on the fact that it may be used by any government in power to muzzle the opposition. Yet, the dynamics of politics in the North are completely different from the South.
“Would there have been power shift in Kano , Zamfara and Nasarawa with state police? Even the Chairman of the Northern Governors Forum, Babangida Aliyu, used the platform of ex-Governor AbdulKadir Kure to get to power in what appeared a difficult circumstance. If there was state police in place, the Governor of Niger State would not have been allowed to win the poll.
“State police may breed more security problems in the North than addressing the insecurity in the region. We believe we are not ripe for it yet.”
The Director of Press Affairs to the Governor of Plateau State , Mr. James Mannok, said: “Governor Jang has been an advocate of state police and he said he should be put on record at the Northern Governors Forum’s meeting.
A source in Benue State said: “Governor Suswam is not opposed to state police but he is also not disposed to its immediate adoption at present because our democratic and political systems are always having teething problems.
“He said there is tendency for a state police to be used against the opposition.
“Also, funding is a major issue the governor has been considering. It is not a tea party to fund any police system when you talk of staffing, equipment and providing adequate security.
“The governor might change his mind later when our democratic institutions are strengthened and our political culture is mature enough to accommodate it. If there are superior arguments in future and he is convinced, he might support state police.”

Boko Haram: Tell us all you know, Nzeribe tells Clark.

.Senator condemns Jonathan’s position on Salami .’Okorocha’s govt rudderless’

Senator Arthur Nzeribe has broken his long silence, challenging Ijaw leader and elder statesman Chief Edwin Clark to tell Nigerians all he knows about the sponsors of the Boko Haram sect, instead of casting aspersions on some northern leaders.
He berated President Goodluck Jonathan for failing to implement the National Judicial Council’s (NJC’s) recommendation to reinstate Justice Ayo Salami  as the President of the Court of Appeal.
Nzeribe said such “flagrant abuse of the law” by the President is being emulated by governors. 
Citing Imo State as an example, he said the governor has been ignoring court orders.
Nzeribe described as “an effort in futility” the threat by the House of Representatives to impeach the President.
He said the high-level of corruption in the system makes it impossible for any serious-minded legislature to implement the threat.
Speaking with reporters at his home in Abuja on Sunday night, Nzeribe said he was concerned about the political developments in his home state, Imo.
He said the state is not only groaning under a rudderless leadership “as evidenced in the activities of Governor Rochas Okorocha”, but may sink deeper, with the “cowardice” being exhibited by those who should ordinarily speak against the “democratic apathy”.
Expressing fears that the state may degenerate into the Hobbesian jungle, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart urged lawmakers in Imo to work towards providing purposeful leadership.
Nzeribe said: “I have been very careful since Okorocha assumed office about saying anything about his administration. But things are getting worse by the day. It is a very dangerous situation we are having in Imo State and nobody is ready to bell the cat.  
“Must it take the order of the Attorney-General of the Federation for the 27 local government chairmen to be reinstated? Must the response from Imo State to the court order be that ‘since the Federal Government refused to reinstate Salami as ordered by the NJC, Imo State is at liberty not to obey court order? Why, for example, take such a position on the Salami saga?”
On the Boko Haram insurgency, Nzeribe said: “I do not agree with the way the President is handling the matter. The President once said the Boko Haram people have penetrated the government; why has he not made any arrest?  We should know who they are beyond the President telling us that they are in his government.”
On Clark’s statement that former Military Presidents Ibrahim Babangida and Muhammadu Buhari should openly condemn the sect, he said: “Clark has a platform to speak his mind. He has been the spokesman of the government for quite sometime now. Why is he throwing the balloon in the air for it to burst? He should tell us what he knows. 
“Clark did not go the whole hog. If he has fingered one or two persons, then we should know where he is going.”
Speaking on the threat to impeach the President over the poor implementation of the 2012 budget, Nzeribe said he doubts if the lawmakers understand what it takes to impeach the President.
He said: “I doubt if they understand what they are doing. Nobody respects the average lawmaker anymore in Nigeria. With the kind of corruption in the system, I do not think the impeachment threat is real. 
“I do not think the House has the right to summon the President, but there is nothing wrong with the President going to them and saying. ‘I have come to brief you’. You cannot continue to threaten to impeach the President all the time.”
Acknowledging that the PDP has not provided quality leadership at the federal, state and local government levels, the senator said the party is still grappling with the best way of managing the opposition. 
Nzeribe has confidence in the Bamanga Tukur-led National Executive to set the party on the right track.

The Senate at Asaba: What really transpired.

Senate President Mark

In the face of our national travails occasioned by the need to once again review the 1999 Constitution, it has become necessary to caution Nigerian journalists on the need to stop playing politics and give informed and responsible inputs on how best to address the issues. This call becomes necessary against the backdrop of an editorial published in “The Nation on Sunday” of August 5, 2012, on page 15, titled: “The Senate at Asaba- The legislative body failed to address the main issues of our nation.”
Whoever among the respected members of the editorial board of “ The Nation,” that authored the said editorial was most unfair to the paper, as it gave an impression of a paper that is either not attuned with the current realities, as they concern the work of the Senate Committee on the Review of the Constitution (SCRC), or one that operates offshore. The editorial was not only presumptuous, and speculative, but failed to meet the simple test of a well researched and informed commentary, especially when the materials needed for such a commentary was readily available.
The editorial set out to say that the SCRC, failed to “address the fundamental issue of restructuring the country…” but that rather “it decided to give palliatives such as conceding the creation of one state in the Southeast, institution of state police, affirming the immunity clause and holding up the seven –year single-term tenure for the executive position of the presidency and the governor, among others.”
To start with, contrary to the position of the paper, the SCRC, has not concluded on any issue. If anything, the retreat was meant to only abreast the members of the committee of the issues arising from both the memoranda submitted and those from the last work of the committee during the 6th Senate. And this position was made clear by the Deputy Senate President and Chairman of the Committee, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, while making his welcoming address at the Asaba retreat. Hear him: “I wish to reassure Nigerians that we will be open and true to them. We have no position on any issues except those taken by the Nigerian people through their inputs, whether through their memoranda, contributions at public hearings and their elected representatives at both the National and state Assemblies. We bear no allegiance to any, except that which we owe to the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We have no interest to protect, except that of the generality of the Nigerian people and posterity. We will be driven by the force of superior argument and public will. What we owe our people is leadership, legislative due process, transparency, inclusivity and popular participation. We want to ensure that the generality of Nigerians own and drive the process to be able to take full responsibility of the eventual outcome.”  It is also instructive to note here that the Asaba retreat only signaled the commencement of the review. By October, the committee will be embarking on public hearings across the six geo-political zones and Abuja, to give Nigerians the opportunity to make further inputs. This is in addition to mobilising all the legislators to hold consultations and town hall meetings with their constituents, with a view to getting everyone involved in the process. How can a process that is yet to reach its embryo stage be deemed to have failed? This is rather presumptuous and speculative. Again, to say the retreat failed to address the “fundamental issue of restructuring the country,” shows that it is either the author was not in the country when the retreat held, or the author deliberately was interested in misleading the respected “The Nation on Sunday.” Interestingly, apart from the fact that the proceedings were broadcast live, as they were happening by both the AIT and  Channels Television stations, the paper’s Asaba Correspondent and one of its Assistant editors, covering the Senate, were not only at the retreat, but captured the proceedings in their respective reportage of the event, especially, the one published in “ The Nation” of July 25, 2012, at pages 43 and 44 entitled: “Senate and the Asaba declaration.” All the author needed to have done was to revisit the reports of these reporters. The retreat did not only look at the issue of restructuring, but a whole session was devoted to take a critical look at the issue of fiscal federalism. And before then, in Ekweremadu’s speech, while listing the 16 issues the committee had aggregated before the retreat, with the devolution of power, being listed as the number one item on the list, had said: “Devolution of powers – It is expressed that the legislative list in our constitution is skewed in favor of the Federal Government and needs to be revisited, to give our constitution a true Federal character.”
Additionally, contrary to the claim of the author of the editorial, the idea of a seven-year single tenure did not emanate from the committee. Although, the issue of the single tenure was part of the 16 listed issues to be looked at, it was one of the resource persons at the retreat- Prof.  Isawa Elaigwu that suggested a five-year single tenure. The committee is yet to deliberate on the matter, let alone take a stand. At any rate, it is Nigerians, and not the committee that have a stand to take on the issues so far raised, including the ones that would come up after the zonal public hearings and town hall meetings.
Although, there are several other inconsistencies in the said editorial, what we have raised are a few critical ones we feel strongly should be highlighted, so as to correct the misconceptions created by the editorial. We implore the paper and other Nigerian Journalists to feel free to contact the committee on any issue to seek clarifications, before jumping at conclusions. Pouring invectives at the committee and its members will not in any way serve the country any good. The task of restructuring the country should be the concern of every Nigerian, and it is a task that we must jointly accomplish.

Why Clinton is visiting on Thursday, by Adefuye.

United States Secretary of State Mrs. Clinton

Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States, Prof. Ade Adefuye, yesterday in Abuja said United States Secretary of State Mrs. Hilary Clinton’s visit to the country is to discuss Nigeria-U. S. bilateral relations.
He said the Nigeria–U.S Bi-National Commission had become a model for partnership with other countries.
Adefuye, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria against the backdrop of U.S Secretary of State, Mrs. Hilary Clinton’s scheduled visit to Nigeria on August 9, said Canada, Germany and other countries were using the model to partner with Nigeria on developmental programmes.
He said the BNC, established in 2010, had been “’very successful and it has been a model.
“It is working well that Canada has conducted its agreement with us based on the U.S. model and the Germans are doing a similar one with us now,” he stated.
NAN reports that the BNC covers four working areas, including Good Governance, Transparency and Integrity Working Group and the Niger Delta and Regional Security Cooperation Working Group.
Others are the Energy and Investment Working Group and the Food Security and Agriculture Working Group.
According to him, bilateral relations between both countries remain strong, contrary to rumours that it is on the decline.
Adefuye noted that the four working groups of the BNC had achieved remarkable success since the inception of the commission.
He said the U.S. Vice President, Mr. Joe Biden, had once described Nigeria as America’s anchor in Africa, owing to the cordial relations existing between both countries.
The envoy said America placed much emphasis on Nigeria and saw Nigeria as a strategic ally and that “is why the U.S. is committed to ensuring that there is political stability in the wake of security challenges in Nigeria.”

We are forced to accept the conclusion that on account of his age, his senses have since departed him ~ IBB to Edwin Clark.

Aliyu M. Hamagam & Andrew Agbese
Former military president Ibrahim Babangida has responded to the statement credited to Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark that he (Babangida) is partly responsible for the Boko Haram menace in the country, saying the statement is not only in bad taste but also misguided.
Babangida, in a statement by his media spokesman Prince Kassim Afegbua, said he takes exception to the implied conclusions contained in the statement as it exhibits crass ignorance about leadership in a multi-ethnic configuration like Nigeria and warned that further implied statements and misplaced accusations from Chief Clark would be greeted with litigation.
The former president said instead of buck-passing and playing the blame game, Clark should advise the government of the day to do more of consultation with former presidents, opinion moulders and leaders of thoughts across the country with the aim of getting lasting and integrated solutions to Nigeria’s problems.
General Babangida said he has no hand in the present challenges facing President Goodluck Jonathan, and the insecurity in the country, as it is his belief that some of the problems were inherited by the present administration.
General Babangida, according to the statement, does not have a hand in anything untoward against the unity and stability of the Nigerian State having seen it all in life, and after paying his dues by serving his fatherland.
“Having invested so much in the unity and stability of the country, to the extent of fighting in the civil war to keep the country together, it is out of place for anyone, least of all an old man of Edwin Clark’s nomenclature, to inpute directly or indirectly that the great IBB should prove his innocence on the Boko Haram menace.
“We want to believe that Chief Edwin Clark was quoted out of context, but if indeed he did say what was credited to him, we are forced to accept the conclusion that on account of his age, his senses have since departed him. He needs our empathies and not sympathies. We have since known Chief Edwin Clark to be a loose cannon in public discourse. He deserves our pity”, it said.
General Babangida said unlike Clark who has offered no solution to the crisis facing the country, he has offered several approaches and methodologies to addressing the precarious situation both in public and private, and had stated without equivocation that dialogue would serve as a better tool than the militant approach which is not yielding appropriate result.