Obi demolishes another kidnapper’s mansion

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By DAVID ONWUCHEKWA, Nnewi
Anambra State Government yesterday demolished two bungalows linked to a kidnap suspect, Emeka Ezekude at Umuihefula village, Umuaku Uli in Ihiala Local Government Area. Governor Peter Obi who led the demolition said the war against kidnapping and other violent crimes in the state must be total.
The demolition followed the arrest of Ezekude and recovery of arms and ammunition hidden underground in plastic containers in his premises. Among the items recovered were one rocket grenade, three grenade propellers, two AK 47 rifles, zero six rifle, twenty seven AK 47 magazines, 127 rounds of live ammunition and nine chains used in restraining kidnap victims. Governor Obi said the demolition was in line with the state government’s policy that any property linked to a kidnapper would be acquired by the government and demolished. He stressed that government would not allow anyone to benefit from proceeds of kidnap and other crimes. The governor assured that government was already winning the battle as the wave of kidnap across the state had drastically reduced.
He thanked the police and other security agents for their sustained efforts to rid the state of criminals and hoodlums. The Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, Mr. Ayole Abeh said Ezekude was a member of the kidnap gang led by Mr Olisa Ifedike, alias Ofeakwu who was arrested last month. Abeh explained that the suspect was arrested through the statements by his colleague in crime, Mr. Ifedike. Members of the community said Ezekude was masquerading as a sand and stone supplier to shield his criminal activities. They commended Governor Obi for his determination to eradicate crime in the state and assured him of total support.
The two demolished buildings consisted of nine rooms and a parlour and four rooms and a parlour respectively. Reacting to the incident, the President General of Uli Progressive Union, Ichie Cletus Madu Ezenwaka said the union and the Igwe-in-Council had disbanded all youths organizations and those, he said, called themselves Millennium Boys who, he alleged, engaged in anti-social activities, adding that the community was shocked to learn that the suspect was a criminal even though he was parading himself as a building contractor.
He said the community would not associate itself with criminals and would help government to flush them out. In a related development, the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) in Anambra led by Mr James Nwafor on Monday rescued a kidnap victim, one Onyekwelu Jonathan who was kidnapped at Awada Obosi by one Obinna Ofor and his gang and was taken to Lagos where the SARS rescued him in a compound owned by one Onyeka, which was used as a detention camp by the kidnappers. Three of the kidnappers were shot dead during exchange of gunfire. Items recovered include one rocket launcher, one rocket, four rocket propellers, 18 AK47 magazines and 300 7.62 mm live ammunition.
TheSun

Two Auchi Poly students held for ‘kidnap’, ‘rape’ and ‘murder’

by: Osagie Otabor

The Edo State Police Command has arrested two students of the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Henry Onoriode Edewo (21) and Emmanuel Isiekhuieme, for the alleged kidnap, rape and murder of Miss Mercy Peters (21).
The late Mercy was a student of Auchi Polytechnic and was in the same department with the suspects.
She became missing on July 29.
It was gathered that the late Mercy was abducted by the suspects and taken to a forest at Ugbor in Oredo Local Government Area, where she was raped.
She was said to have been killed four days after the abduction.
The suspects allegedly buried her in a shallow grave in the forest and started demanding ransom from her family.
Police sources said the family paid some money to the kidnappers, but the hoodlums insisted on N1 million.
Police spokesman Anthony Airhuoyo said the suspects were arrested on October 17.
Airhuoyo said the suspects took the police to where they buried Mercy.
He said her remains had been exhumed for an autopsy.
A third suspect, simply identified as Charles, is still at large.
TheNation

Allegation of fraud trails recruitment of 500 teachers in Edo

By SIMON EBEGBULEM
BENIN — ALLEGATION of fraud is trailing the recruitment of 500 teachers in Edo State by the State Post-Primary Education Board, following reports that applicants were asked to pay  N200,000 to be recruited.
It was learnt that in order to engage the services of enough teachers in secondary schools in the state, Governor Adams Oshiomhole directed the Board to recruit 500 teachers who would teach science subjects, English and Mathematics.
Consequently, the subjects were advertised and over 11,000 persons were said to have applied for employment.
Vanguard learnt, however, that after conducting interviews, a list of successful applicants was posted on the notice board, but it was gathered that officials of the Board hurriedly removed the list when members of the public started raising questions about the credentials of some successful candidates.
It was observed that majority of those whose names were published did not take part in the interview but  were recruited, apparently after paying the money allegedly demanded.
Vanguard was reliably informed that majority of those who were recruited were either not qualified or not majors in any science subject.
Vanguard learnt that Governor Oshiomhole had been informed of the situation and that there are plans to sack the entire Board members, a situation which is already creating tension among members of the Board.
When contacted, Edo State Commissioner for Education, Mr. Ekpenisi Omorotionwa, said though he had received such report, he was yet to obtain concrete evidence to enable the Ministry take action against the perpetrators.
Vanguard

Boko Haram: Why Sambo, Adoke were not interrogated – SSS

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA —  Chief investigator of the State Security Service, SSS, Mr James Ene Izih, yesterday, explained before a Federal High Court in Abuja, why the duo of Vice President Namadi Sambo and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, were not interrogated with a view to ascertaining their level of involvement with the Boko Haram Islamic sect.
Izih who, yesterday, testified as the second prosecution witness, PW-2, in the ongoing trial of the lawmaker representing Borno South Senatorial District, Mohammed Ali Ndume, also told the court that Ndume gave the telephone number of the Attorney-General of the Federation to the Islamic sect.

The witness said though Sambo and Adoke were alleged to have had contacts with the sect, “however, instead of inviting them for questioning as we did in the case of Ndume, the service decided to investigate the claim using our state-craft.”
The witness who told the court that he had been in the business of investigation for the past 31 years, maintained that it was an apprehended spokesman of the sect in Maiduguri, Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, and Ndume that fingered the VP and the AGF, in separate confessional statements they made upon their arrest by a special investigation panel that investigated the spate of bombings in parts of the country.

Ndume was indicted by Boko Haram  ex-spokesman

He told the court that Ndume, who he said volunteered three separate statements upon his arrest on November 21, 2011, admitted having contacts with the Boko Haram sect, insisting that he even gave some materials including a compact disk, given to him by the sect, to both the Vice President and Director of the SSS.
“My lord, our investigative panel was set up with a mandate to trace, locate, arrest, question, detain and prosecute any person arrested in connection with the bombings. It was in the course of executing the mandate that one Boko Haram suspect, Konduga, a.k.a Usman Alzawahiri, was arrested.
“He was arrested at Gwange Area of Maiduguri in Borno State, where he functioned as the spokes-man of the sect.  It was in the process of his interrogation by the Special Investigation Panel, SIP, that he mentioned Senator Ndume and one Saidu Pinda who is now deceased.
“Konduga had alleged that Ndume assisted the sect to carry out certain terrorist activities in Maiduguri. On account of that, we invited the accused person and I detailed some of my case officers to witness his voluntary statement on November 21, 2011.
“He made three different statements on that particular day and made additional statements on November 24, 30 and December 2, 2011, where he confessed that he had made telephone contacts with Konduga.
“Due to that confession, we had to take his mobile phone from him for expert analysis because we had already taken Konduga’s phone too.”
The two phones comprising Nokia E-7 and Nokia 27100, were tendered and admitted into evidence yesterday as exhibits P5 and P5(a).
Meanwhile, under cross examination by Ndume’s lawyer, Chief Ricky Tarfa, SAN, the witness said it was the decision of the security agency not to invite Vice President Sambo for interrogation, adding: “We investigate cases based on the facts we have. On the allegation against the VP, though we did not have an audience with him, we investigated the claim using our state-craft.”
Besides, Izih told the court that the SSS operatives who searched Ndume’s house, seized his laptop and phones, saying they, however, failed to recover any judgement linking him to the sect.
The court, yesterday, adjourned further hearing on the case till November 1, 5 and December 11.

Ndume gave AGF’s telephone number to Boko Haram —Witness

The witness further told the court that it was the accused senator who gave the telephone number of Mohammed Adoke to the Boko Haram.
The accused has, however, said he established the link to facilitate peace as a member of the Presidential Committee on Security in the North-East zone.
Izih said Konduga informed the panel that Ndume obliged him with the GSM telephone number of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation.
The witness said the number was used to bargain a governorship petition filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Borno State.
Izih said that Konduga had testified that the calls to the AGF were threats to spur him to influence the governorship election tribunal members to cede the election victory to PDP or risk mayhem in the state.
He explained that the name of the AGF was dragged into the panel report submitted on November 25, 2011 on the grounds that his GSM number was found in Konduga’s telephone set.
Izih said that Konduga’s transaction with the AGF was a threat to the minister’s life, adding that the accused facilitated it by giving out Adoke’s telephone number to a senior official of Boko Haram.
Ineh, in his testimony, further said that the items found in the accused’s telephone were indicative of his close connection with the dreaded group.
“The fact that Konduga was tried and convicted of terrorism acts is enough to show that the accused is also liable,” he said.
Justice Gabriel Kolawole adjourned the matter to Nov. 1, Nov. 5 and December 11 for continuation.
Specifically, Ndume who is answering to a 4-count criminal charge, had in his statements, maintained that the reason the sect approached him was as a result of his being a member of the Presidential Committee that was inaugurated on August 2, 2011, with a view to addressing the security challenges in the North Eastern part of the nation.
He said the first telephone exchange between him and the sect was on October 4, 2011, two months into the Committee’s work.
In a 24 paragraph affidavit he deposed before the court, Ndume said after the sect approached him, “he promptly informed one Usman, who represented the SSS before the Presidential Committee of his contact with the said Jammatul Sunnah Walid Jihad (otherwise known as‘Boko Haram’ sect) and also other members of the committee.
“He also informed the Director of State Security Service of his interaction with the said “Boko Haram” sect and forwarded a copy of the DVD he obtained from the sect to the Director of SSS for review.
“The Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Namadi Sambo, is also aware that he was in contact with the Jammatul Sunnah Walid Jihad (otherwise known as ‘Boko Haram’).”
Vanguard

Committee Confirms Oil Field In Bida Basin

| ABU NMODU

Another milestone in the search for oil in northern Nigeria has been achieved with a confirmation of oil and gas deposits in the Bida Basin in Niger State.
The Niger State government had set up a committee on the development of the Bida Basin to determine the commercial viability of the deposits within the inland sedimentary.
The committee headed by Lt. General Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi was set up on October 18, last year, to look at the commercial viability of the deposits.
The committee, said its chairman while submitting its report yesterday to Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, has been able to confirm the presence of oil and gas in the Basin.
He said that an exploratory test well at Patti-Shaba-Kolo  and in two other locations will be carried out to further determine the commercial quantity of the deposits.
General Wushishi advised the government to double effort in the exploration process of the deposits pending the time the federal government deemed it fit to intervene in the process.
He said the committee had floated two companies -- Midland Refinery and Petro Chemical Company and Midland Petrogas Resources Limited -- to serve as special purpose vehicles for upstream and downstream activities for the state’s oil and gas resources development drive.
“Niger State government through the Gubernatorial Committee should take the lead in the formation of Association of Inland Basins Development States with the view to seeking the buy-in of other states within the basin to support the ongoing state drive for search of oil and gas in commercial quantity,” he said.
He said that the committee suggested to the government to carry out a feasibility study for the viability of establishment of a petrochemical and refinery plant at Baro on the basis proposed by the committee.
He also praised the governor for his “vision and courage” to commence the process of oil and gas exploration in the state after many years of speculations; and he commended traditional rulers in the state for the support with which the committee has recorded the success so far.
Governor Aliyu, in his response, said the committee would be transformed to a standing committee and therefore directed it to start looking at the possibility of resettling villagers in the affected communities so that the state would not witness the type of crisis that happened in the Niger Delta in the future.
He said the involvement of the National Energy Commission of Nigeria has given the exercise credit beyond mere political economy, while calling on investors to partner with the government for full exploration of the deposits.
Leadership

Ndokwa Elite Accuse Uduaghan Of Financial Recklessness, Petition Jonathan

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan

By SaharaReporters, New York

Ndokwa Youth Elites Forum (NYEF), a pressure group in Delta State, has accused the state governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, of financial recklessness.
The group is the latest of numerous organizations in the state to express displeasure over what they describe as the governor’s fraudulent handling of the 13% derivation fund that accrues to Delta as an oil-producing state. In a petition addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan, the NYEF demanded that Mr. Uduaghan be called to order.
Titled “Urgent Need for Direct Payment of 13% Derivation Fund to DESOPADEC,” the petition was signed on the group’s behalf by its chairman, Ossai Chukwudi, and its public relations officer, Fidelis Okafor. SaharaReporters obtained a copy of the petition which described Mr. Uduaghan’s handling of the fund as disheartening.
“It is very sad and disheartening that in spite of the fact that Delta State Government in 2010 collected a whooping sum of N120.6 billion as 13% derivation fund and N178.8 billion in 2011 as 13% derivation fund, the total money collected for the two years is N304 billion and the 50% share of DESOPADEC [Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission] ought to be N152 billion but there is nothing on ground to show that such money was ever given to DESOPADEC,” said the petitioners.
The NYE continued: “We the entire peace loving executives and members of the Ndokwa Youth Elites Forum wish to respectfully draw your attention to the helpless and continuous non-payment of completed DESOPADEC jobs in the past three years and when payments are made contractors with full certificates are made to collect only 20% or 30% of the contract sum while the contractors are abandoned to battle with banks over loans secured to do such jobs in the past three years.”
The NYEF questioned whether the 13% funds were actually paid to DESOPADEC. It also wondered why DESOPADEC had failed to pay contractors fully for jobs executed and commissioned by the governor.
The Ndokwa Youth Elite Forum stated that the once performing Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) had been turned into a sleeping lion due to lack of adequate funding. NYEF recalled that the commission, by law, was supposed to receive 50% of the derivation fund due Delta State for its operation.
“We reject in totality the 2012 budget of DESOPADEC as the State Governor in conjunction with members of the Delta State House of Assembly, against laid down procedures of communities, chosen the projects of their choice based on production quantum have suddenly turned DESOPADEC into their personal affairs now deciding projects allocations without input from the host communities who are the end beneficiaries,” the petitioners wrote.
The NYEF’s petition further stated: “In view of section 162(2) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 13% percent derivation is the first charge on the federation account and therefore cannot be allocated to any state government which is the third charge on the same federation account.  It is therefore unconstitutional to allocate 13% derivation fund through a third party thus, the legal, just and proper thing to do is to allocate 13% derivation fund due to the oil producing communities in Delta State to ethnic groups trust fund.”
The forum appealed to President Jonathan to direct the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission to henceforth allocate 13% derivation funds due the Ndokwa people directly to the Ndokwa Host Communities Trust Fund. They warned that this would be the only way to avert a serious crisis now brewing in the area.
Recently, some former members of Delta State House of Assembly called on Governor Uduaghan to account for over N380 billion that the state received from federal government allocations. The former legislators spoke as members of Mass Movement for Change (MMC). The group is led by George Oyefia.
 

Pope Benedict XVI Appoints Archbishop Onaiyekan Cardinal-elect

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday in Rome, Italy, announced the appointment of Archbishop John Onaiyekan of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja as a Cardinal-elect.
Bishop Emmanuel Badejo, of the Oyo Diocese and Chairman, Social Communications Committee, Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, (CBCN) confirmed the appointment in an e-mail sent to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Badejo, who is currently attending a conference alongside other bishops and lay faithful in Rome, said that the Pope would formally inaugurate the new cardinals-elect on Nov. 24 in Rome.
He disclosed that five other Cardinals were appointment, including Archbishop James Michael Harvey, Prefect of the Pontifical Household; His Beatitude Bechara Boutros Rai, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites (Lebanon).
Others are His Beatitude Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, Major Archbishop of Trivandrum of the Syro-Malankars (India); Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez, Archbishop of Bogotá (Colombia); and Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila (Philippines).
NAN reports that Cardinals have the task of helping the Pope who is usually Apostle Peter's successor carry out his mission.
NAN also recalls that it is from the College of Cardinals that a new Pope is usually elected after the death of the incumbent.
Cardinals below the age of 80 are eligible to vote and be voted for during the election of a new pope.
NAN reports that before now, the Catholic Church in Nigeria had produced three Cardinals including, the late Dominic Cardinal Ekandem, Francis Cardinal Arinse and Anthony Cardinal Okogie.
Both Arinse and Okogie had resigned after they had attained 75 years, the age set for cardinals, archbishops and bishops to retire from their pastoral care, as head of their dioceses.
It would also be recalled that the two Cardinals were appointment by late Pope John Paul II.
While Arinze was appointed in April, 1985, Okogie, on his part was appointed in Oct. 2003. (NAN)
Leadership