The US has condemned the killing of an Iranian nuclear scientist in a car bomb attack in north Tehran.
National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said the US “had absolutely nothing to do” with the attack.
Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan, who worked at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, died along with the driver of the car.
Several Iranian nuclear scientists have been assassinated in recent years, with Iran blaming Israel and the US.
Both deny any involvement.
Washington and its allies suspect Tehran of secretly developing a nuclear weapon but Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful.
“The United States had absolutely nothing to do with this. We strongly condemn all acts of violence, including acts of violence like this,” said Mr Vietor.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization described the killings as “a heinous act”.
Iranian Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said on state TV that the bomb attack would not stop “progress” in the country’s nuclear programme.
The assassination may now prompt Iran to try to respond in kind.
The murder in Tehran of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan comes on top of a sophisticated cyber sabotage programme and two mysterious explosions at Iranian military bases, one of which in November killed the general known as ‘the godfather’ of Iran’s ballistic missile programme.
Regardless of who is behind these attacks, Iran is clearly being subjected to an undeclared campaign to slow down its nuclear programme.
Mr Ahmadi-Roshan, 32, was a university lecturer who supervised a department at the Natanz plant, the semi-official news agency Fars reported.
Iranian officials said two men on a motorcycle attached a magnetic bomb to his car during the morning rush hour and detonated it outside a university campus.
Mr Ahmadi-Roshan died immediately while his driver died later of his wounds, Fars reported. A third occupant of the Peugeot 405 was injured and taken to hospital.
The blast left debris hanging in nearby trees.
Iran says the attack was similar to the killings of three other scientists over the past two years.
A senior Israeli official described the attack as “revenge” but said he was unaware who had carried it out.
“I don’t know who took revenge on the Iranian scientist but I am definitely not shedding a tear,” military spokesman Brig Gen Yoav Mordechai wrote on his official Facebook page.
The attack comes amid rising tensions between Iran and the West.
The UN’s nuclear watchdog recently confirmed that Tehran had begun enriching uranium up to 20% at its underground northern Fordo plant near Qom.
The US said it was “a further escalation” of Iran’s violation of UN resolutions regarding its nuclear plans.
In a further attempt to pile pressure on Iran, Western UN envoys on Wednesday condemned Iran’s enrichment of uranium at the Fordo plant as a “clear breach” of UN resolutions.
France’s deputy envoy Martin Briens said Britain, France, Germany and the US raised concerns at the Security Council because the new plant has no “credible civilian use”.
Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan worked at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility
However, the BBC’s Barbara Plett at the UN says an agreement on further sanctions is unlikely.
The UN Security Council has passed six resolutions and four rounds of sanctions against Iran although Russia and China are expected to block any further measures.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov earlier told the Itar-Tass news agency that Moscow was firmly against any new sanctions on Iran, adding that they wouldn’t help nuclear non-proliferation.
Western nations are also imposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme. In response, Tehran has threatened to block the transport of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday described that threat as “provocative and dangerous”.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
From national protests over the removal of fuel subsidies to attacks by Boko Haram, Goodluck Jonathan, the embattled Nigerian leader, is facing the most serious challenges of his presidency.
“What they want is consultation, they say they have never been consulted and they say the subsidy was removed very suddenly in one go. In other countries we have had removal of subsidies, like in Ghana, [but] it’s been gradual.“
– Katie Mark, a journalist and documentary filmmaker
Nigerian trade unions have held a second day of strikes over the withdrawal of a fuel subsidy. And tensions in the northern Nigerian city of Kano were running high on Monday as at least three people were killed.
The country produces more than two million barrels of crude oil a day but imports roughly 70 per cent of its gasoline from abroad because its oil refineries are not working. Many in the country saw the subsidy as the only benefit of living in an oil-producing country. Since subsidies were removed, some say they are struggling – the price of bread has doubled and, in some places, the price of fuel has tripled.
Labour unions hope a prolonged strike will disrupt services and force officials to give in.
“If it’s not enough, we’ll keep going because we have several strategies that we are also going to deploy,” says Peter Esele from the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria. “At least for now there is still power on. It is possible power may go after two or three days if nothing happens. Water may also dry up. So there are other means that we can also deploy.”
“There is a huge trust deficit between the general public and the government and this is not a coincidence. It has been going on for quite a while. The fact that the government is … seen to be kind of a corrupt government … is what is driving this.“
– Garba Sani, a Nigerian political analyst
But the Jonathan administration is not showing any signs of backing down. It says the treasury could save up to $6bn in 2012, telling Nigerians the money saved will be spent on infrastructure development and services for the poor.
The strikes could not have come at a worse time for the government. The country is still reeling from a wave of attacks on Christians by the Boko Haram group and now the general strike is threatening to cripple the economy and bring Nigeria to a standstill.
On this episode of Inside Story, we ask: Can Africa’s most populous country navigate multiple minefields or is Nigeria sliding into chaos?
To answer this question we are joined by: Garba Sani, a Nigerian political analyst and member of the Nigerian Muslim Forum; Michael Amoah, an associate of London School of Economics Ideas and author of Nationalism, Globalization and Africa; and Katie Mark, a journalist and documentary filmmaker.
“The situation we have on our hands is even worse than the civil war that we fought. During the civil war, we knew and we could even predict where the enemy was coming from …. But the challenge we have today is more complicated.”
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Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The leader of Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamist militants has defended recent attacks on Christians, saying they are revenge for killings of Muslims.
In his first video message, posted on YouTube, Abubakar Shekau referred to attacks on Muslims in recent years in several parts of northern Nigeria.
Boko Haram militants attacked several churches on Christmas Day, killing dozens of worshippers.
This has led to some reprisals in the mainly Christian south.
Mosques in two states have been attacked.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation with 160 million people, is divided between a largely Muslim north and a south where most people are Christians and some animists.
Thousands of people have fled their homes following the recent attacks, leading some people, including Nigeria’s president and the leader of the country’s main Christian organisation, to make comparisons with the 1967-70 civil war when the south-east tried to secede.
‘Religious cleansing’
In the latest attack, four people have been shot dead by attackers on motorbikes while they filled up their car with petrol in the north-eastern Yobe state, the local police chief has told the BBC.
Police chief Lawal Tanko did not release the identities of those killed, or the attackers.
The AFP news agency quotes local residents as saying those killed were southerners. Shootings from motorbikes are a Boko Haram trademark.
Yobe state is one of those areas where President Goodluck Jonathan has recently declared a state of emergency but the police chief said he had not yet received the details.
In the 15-minute video, Mr Shekau, wearing a red and white turban, a bullet-proof vest and sitting in front of two Kalashnikov rifles, said he was responding to recent statements from Nigeria’s President Jonathan and the leader of the country’s main Christian organisation, the Christian Association of Nigeria.
He warned President Jonathan that Nigeria’s security forces would not be able to defeat the group.
Mr Jonathan, a Christian, declared a state of emergency in some northern states last month – but the attacks have continued.
On Tuesday night, gunmen opened fire on a bar in Yobe, killing eight people, including several police officers.
The president recently said that he suspected some officials, politicians and members of the security forces sympathised with Boko Haram.
Defending the latest spate of violence, Mr Shekau referred to the killing of Muslims in places like Jos, Kaduna, Zangon Kataf, Tafawa Balewa in recent years.
Some of these places have seen bitter communal clashes but correspondents say they are often based on long-standing disputes over resources such as land, or are whipped up by politicians, rather than being based on religious differences.
“We are also at war with Christians because the whole world knows what they did to us,” Mr Shekau said in the video, speaking in Hausa – the most common language in northern Nigeria.
“They killed our fellows and even ate their flesh in Jos,” he said, referring to reports last year of isolated cases of Christian youths burning and eating their rivals in Plateau state, where more than 1,000 people have been killed in a series of clashes over the past two years.
Christian Association of Nigeria head Ayo Oritsejafor said on Saturday that his members would protect themselves against the attacks, which he said suggested “systematic ethnic and religious cleansing”.
On Tuesday, he told the BBC World Service there should be dialogue with Muslim leaders to halt the violence.
Mr Shekau said the group could only hold talks with the government in accordance with the teachings of Islam.
He said the group’s primary targets remained the security forces, who he said had summarily executed their former leader Mohammed Yusuf after he was arrested in 2009.
“Everyone has seen how we were treated, people have seen what has happened between us and armed security agents and their accomplices who give them information about us,” Mr Shekau said.
After a lull, in 2010 the group started to stage drive-by shootings on government targets in its base in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri.
Last year, it carried out suicide bombings on high-profile targets such as the headquarters of the UN and the police in the capital, Abuja.
The group, known locally as Boko Haram meaning “Western education is forbidden”, wants to establish Sharia law in Nigeria.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
NewsRescue- The article below and related articles raise pertinent questions- 1. Is the United States promoting a breakup, in what’s known as the ’tissue scarcity scare’ scenario, where the suggestion and promotion of a concept leads to its manifestation. Nigerians skeptical about the possibility of a breakup get reassured that best analysis from the US suggests its high possibility of success and parties in favor of this go ahead in full force to make this so-called expert analysis a reality? Or is a natural breakup indeed the reality?
The US has been known to be at the center of important breakups in the past. Countries like Vietnam and Korea had the US play a major skewed role, and when these Nations divided into North and South, the US stationed its troops at the border to defend usually the Southern territory, and the Northern usually became a rejected, isolated rudiment.
In Nigeria the North, currently the power holding block, which is majorly Muslim, and lacks petroleum resources will almost certainly be turned into an Arab aligned, possibly terrorist ‘axis of evil’, Nation. While the US will according to experts defend and instill puppet rule over the resourceful South, which it is believed it will assist in secession if a breakup war occurs. A breakup will certainly be bloody and cause years of internal wars, disability and suffering. Nigeria’s North is the food basket of the Nation, providing vegetables, cereal and beef, while the South is the industrial capital.
The US will likely favor such a breakup for obvious reasons- the current leader of Nigeria thumped his finger in the US nose, clearly rejecting the installation of US AFRICOM military command in Nigeria. Nigeria’s government has also of recent signed deals with Russia and Iran for major resource, military and power(Nuclear generation) mutual ventures. This alliance possibly does not sit well with the US. In addition, Nigeria has been promoting development, not by serving US interest but by cooperation’s with so-called third world Nations like Brazil.
ThisDay- The United States military had, in May 2008, conducted a war games test called Unified Quest 2008, to ascertain how its military might respond to a war in parts of Africa including Nigeria and Somalia.
According to an article written by Director of the African Security Research Project in Washington, DC and Guest Columnist of AllAfrica Global Media, Mr. Daniel Volman ( See:One World Media For ‘Global Citizens’- 2009 World Economic Forum; Are You Ready? ), the Nigerian scenario was predicated upon a possible war in 2013. The article observed that it was the first time the African scenarios were included, as part of Pentagon’s plan to create a new military command for Africa: the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM). It also emerged that “the free flow of natural resources from Africa to the global market†was one of the “guiding principles†of AFRICOM, asarticulated by Vice Admiral Robert Moeller at an AFRICOM conference held at Fort McNair on February 18, 2008.
The 2013 war date, the article said, was a test of how AFRICOM could respond to a crisis in Nigeria in the event that rival factions and rebels fight for control of the oil fields of the Niger Delta and the government was near collapse. Among scenarios examined, Volman said, were the possibility of direct American military intervention involving some 20,000 US troops in order to “secure the oil,†bearing in mind that Nigeria is a major supplier of US oil needs. Also, the question of how to handle possible splits between factions within the Nigerian government was tested. Other options included diplomatic pressure, military action, with or without the aid of European and African nations. One participant, US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Mark Stanovich, drew up a plan that called for the deployment of thousands of U.S. troops within 60 days, which even he thought was undesirable, Volman stated.
“American intervention could send the wrong message: that we are backing a government that we don’t intend to,†Stanovich said. Other participants suggested that it would be better if the U.S. government sent a request to South Africa or Ghana to send troops into Nigeria instead,†the article stated.
According to Major Robert Thornton, an officer with the Joint Center for International Security Force Assistance at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, “it became apparent that it was actually green (the host nation government) which had the initiative, and that any blue [the U.S. government and its allies] actions within the frame were contingent upon what green was willing to tolerate and accommodate.â€â€œAs the game progressed, according to former U.S. ambassador David Lyon, it became clear that the government of Nigeria was a large part of the problem. As he put it, ‘we have a circle of elites [the government of Nigeria] who have seized resources and are trying to perpetuate themselves. Their interests are not exactly those of the people,†said the article.
“The recommendations which the participants drew up for the Army’s Chief of Staff, General George Casey, do not appear to be publicly available, as what the participants finally concluded was not known. But since the war games took place in the midst of the presidential election campaign, General Casey decided to brief both John McCain and Barack Obama on its results,†the article stated.
The game ended without military intervention because one of the rival factions executed a successful coup and formed a new government that sought stability.
AFRICOM representatives were said to be in communication throughout the test, but non of their officers were part of the event, said Volman.
Volman observed that neither the General of AFRICOM William Ward nor Vice Admiral Mueller “were under illusions about the†purpose of the command.
“Thus when General Ward appeared before the House Armed Services Committee on March 13, 2008, he cited America’s growing dependence on African oil as a priority issue for AFRICOM and went on to proclaim that combating terrorism would be “AFRICOM’s number one theatre-wide goal.†He barely mentioned development, humanitarian aid, peace-keeping or conflict resolution.â€
“Since then, as General Ward has demonstrated in an interview with AllAfrica, he has become more adept at sticking to the US government official public position on AFRICOM’s aims and on its escalating military operations on the African continent,†stated the piece. Volman argued that contrary to expectations, President Obama had chosen to increase US military intervention in Africa by providing arms and training to the Transitional Government in Somalia, an attempt to make the continent a central battlefield in the “global war on terrorism.â€
He further argued that the operations of AFRICOM had been expanded through a proposed budget for financial year 2010, which will provide increased security assistance to repressive regimes in Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and key US allies such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Rwanda and Uganda.
The war game test drew various participants from the State Department and other US government agencies, foreign military officers (including military representatives from several NATO countries, Australia and Israel), journalists, academics, and the private military contractors that helped run the war games: the Rand Corporation and Booz-Allen. Another of the four scenarios that were war-gamed was a test of how AFRICOM could respond to a crisis in Somalia — set in 2025 — caused by escalating insurgency and piracy. Unfortunately, no information on the details of the scenario is available.
The five-day game was designed to look at what crisis might erupt in different parts of the world in five to 25 years and how the US might respond. Back in 2005, the US had predicted that Nigeria would break-up in 2015. The report was highly criticised by Nigerian leaders.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
COMMENTARY |Iran‘s threat to close the narrow Strait of Hormuz has drawn the attention of military forces around the world and ignited a buildup that could endanger the region. While the U.S. and her major allies regularly maintain a naval presence in the Persian Gulf, other countries have dispatched warships to send a clear message to Tehran.
UPI reported the Russian, French, British and Canadian forces are already on station in the Gulf, with additional forces in route. The U.S. Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain and the USS John C. Stennis CVN-74 is currently patrolling the Gulf of Oman just outside the Strait.
The Stennis carrier group is quite capable of handling anything Iran might choose to muster in a show of force. With more than 70 attack aircraft, plus a screening vessels of various capabilities, the U.S. Navy would easily dominate any encounter. But it’s nice to know that other countries care enough to ensure the waterway stays open for commerce.
The Russians have deployed the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov, which is anchored at Syria’s Tartus port on the Mediterranean. That action caused France to assign an air defense destroyer to the region as well. The Canadian Royal Navy announced Sunday the HMCS Charlottetown also departed for the Gulf.
Not to be left out, British Prime Minister David Cameron ordered a guided missile destroyer into the Persian Gulf, which will join the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. That’s a lot of naval power to deal with in the event Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gets a wild hair to try to close the Strait of Hormuz.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey has said Iran could close the Strait for a “brief time,” but he also reiterated U.S. determination and capability to insure that the seaway will remain open for international navigation. I seriously doubt Iran would want to engage the western powers in a naval confrontation that cannot win. But if they do, the Stennis will give them a moment of pause.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
MILWAUKEE — A lifelong con man accused of starting a fake university and churning out fake diplomas — while in prison in Wisconsin — appeared in court Tuesday to face a fraud charge, years after the complex scheme was uncovered.
Kenneth Shong, 45, was allegedly working with associates outside the prison walls to operate a suspected diploma mill that was recruiting students for at least two years before investigators caught on, authorities said. The Associated Press first reported the alleged scheme in February 2010.
Shong, described by a judge in 2005 as having a history of “outwitting, outplaying and outlasting authorities,” was set to be released from prison last Saturday on a forgery conviction. He was instead taken into custody and charged Thursday with fraudulent writings in Winnebago County. A hearing to determine whether he’ll stand trial is scheduled for Jan. 19.
His public defender, Katena Roberts-Turner, did not immediately return a call for comment Tuesday. If convicted, Shong — whose criminal past dates back two decades and includes fleeing the U.S. — could face up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
According to the criminal complaint, Shong was at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution in 2006 when he encouraged another inmate, Kenneth Fleming, who wanted to become a paralegal, to enroll in “Carlingford University.” Shong allegedly said the school was accredited, incorporated in Delaware and Alabama and degrees were granted through their London campus.
Fleming later arranged for his mother to send a $1,740 tuition payment to a post office box in Mobile, Ala. The complaint said the inmate became suspicious of “poor business practices and unresponsiveness” in relation to the school returning his grades and giving further lessons. The inmate later learned the university was not incorporated in Delaware and Alabama and complained to the state in 2008.
Two other inmates from the Oshkosh prison also complained about university and Shong, who has several aliases, including Kenneth Onapolis, investigators said.
The complaint also noted that Carlingford University’s website had statements that were misleading and erroneous. Shong also had convicted sex offender David Kaster, whom he met in prison, help him start a post office box in Green Bay after Kaster was released that Shong used to claim he had a Green Bay “Regional Training Center,” according to the complaint.
Shong transferred to the Racine Correctional Institution in the fall 2007, and officials there began getting suspicious of his activities and started to investigate. The Wisconsin Educational Approval Board determined that Carlingford University was operating in Wisconsin without necessary approval, and issued a cease-and-desist order. The Department of Justice’s investigation is ongoing.
Charges took so long because the case was complex and was recently reassigned to a new prosecutor, said Justice Department spokeswoman Dana Brueck.
Shong’s criminal past includes convictions for bank fraud, theft and other financial crimes. After years on the run, he was captured in 2002 by U.S. marshals in Vanuatu, a small island near Australia, and returned to the U.S. to face federal fraud and tax evasion charges.
When that prison term ended, Wisconsin authorities brought him back to finish serving a 12-year sentence on a 1989 sentence on forgery charges. He had escaped while on parole in 1993.
At a court hearing in 1989, Dane County prosecutor Ann Sayles said Shong used fake checks, obtained bank credit to buy an expensive car, and defrauded companies to buy plane tickets under a fake name. She called him “a professional con man” and said his shady business activities were continuing in jail. “I’m not so certain,” she said, “the public is safe even with him in prison.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Renowned Nigerian Nobel Laureate for literature, Professor Wole Soyinka has agreed with President Jonathan that the Boko Haram insurgency currently underway in Nigeria is worse than the Nigerian Civil War of between 1967 and 1970.
Speaking to the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC, Soyinka had said amongst other things that he feared Nigeria was heading for a civil war. “We see the nation heading towards a civil war.â€
Soyinka was also asked whether the unrest threatened the state of Nigeria itself, and replied: “It is going that way. We no longer can pretend it’s not.
“When you’ve got a situation where a bunch of people can go into a place of worship and open fire through the windows, you’ve reached a certain dismal watershed in the life of that nation.
†Soyinka said the issues raised by Islamist group Boko Haram, which was blamed for violence targeting Christians in the north of Nigeria and has sparked fears of a wider religious conflict, had been brewing for some time.
“There are people in power in certain parts of the country, leaders, who quite genuinely and authoritatively hate and cannot tolerate any religion outside their own,â€he said.
“When you combine that with the ambitions of a number of people who believe they are divinely endowed to rule the country and who… believe that their religion is above whatever else binds the entire nation together, and somehow the power appears to slip from their hands, then they resort to the most extreme measures.
“Youths who have been indoctrinated right from infancy can be used, and who have been used, again and again to create mayhem in the countryâ€
He added: “Those who have created this faceless army have lost control.â€
It may be recalled that before the April general elections, a group of individuals who had for long pretended to be nationaist had banded themselves into a group known as the Northern Elders Political Leaders Forum and used that platform to agitate for the return pf power to the North in 2010.
And then in October of 2010 when it seemed likely that the candidate they had selected to challenge President Jonathan for the PDP primaries was going to lose out, a prominent member of the group, Alhaji Lawal Kaita had openly told newsmen that they would make Nigeria ungovernable for Jonathan should he win the Presidential elections.
it would also be recalled that in December of 2010, the candidate of the Northern Elders Political Leaders Forum, former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had made a statement that ‘those who make peaceful change impossible make violent change inevitable”. And only last month in Kaduna at the venue of the Northern Peace Conference, former minister of education and oil, and a former senator, Jubril Aminu, had called for the scrapping of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
It would also be recalled that many local and international pundits have asked the question why major Northern politicians have refused to speak up against the activities of Boko Haram. In fact, incumbent senate President, David Mark, had asked the question at the Northern Peace Conference.
A lot of Nigerians were also taken aback by the virulent insults heaped on the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria by Malam Bashir Yusuf, the Depeuty Director General of the Atiku campaign when the CAN President called on Christians to defend themselves. Bashir had called the CAN President a “bigot’ and a “hypocrite” and insinuated that Pastor Oritsejafor, the CAN President, was affected by drug use and bitterness against his mother.
It may also be recalled that after the verdict of the Supreme Court which threw out his petition against the election of President Jonathan, Muhammadu Buhari, the candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) had said Nigerians will pay the price for voting for President Jonathan. This sentiment was equally re echoed by his crony, Malam Nasir Elrufai, the controversial former minister of the FCT who himself had once accused Buhari of being incompetent to rule Nigeria. Elrufai had given an interview to the Sun Newpapers last week under the title ‘Boko Haram: Nigerians will pay the price for not voting Buhari’. How Elrufai expects Nigerians to pay the Price remains to be sin.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
“There are some phony and maliciously crafted quotes (circulating on social media platforms and Blackberry messenger) attributed to me. The one created today says that I said that the poor don’t get it. It is entirely false and made up by people are committed to selling lies. The people on this hideous campaign are the ones who don’t get it. No amount of falsehood will ever triumph over truth. I neither hold such opinions nor use such phrases. Please disregard tweets and messages that purport to broadcast my quotes. I only speak to reputable news organisations and not individuals. Thank you very much for your time.â€
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Members of the violent terrorist group, Boko Haram, On Sunday attacked a Christ Apostolic Church in Yola, Adamawa State capital, killing 11 worshippers. One of the worshipers died in the hospital of bullet wounds.
News of the shooting made residents, mostly non-indigenes, to flee their homes in the night and seek refuge at the General Jalo Army Barracks, Yola, for fear of being killed.
Meanwhile, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, campaigned for the re-election of Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State despite the nationwide strike called by labour over the recent increase in petrol price.
It was learnt that the unknown gunmen, who rode on motorcycles, entered the church and opened fire on the worshippers. 11 members reportedly died on the spot and several others sustained bullet wounds.
One of the wounded church members reportedly died later, bringing the number of those who died to 12, even as five others are in critical conditions at the Specialist Hospital, Yola.
Last Friday, 12 mourners were killed in Mubi, the commercial nerve centre of the state by suspected members of Boko Haram sect.
Those killed were allegedly holding a meeting on how to raise money to convey home the remains of three of their relatives earlier shot dead by members of the sect on Thursday before they were attacked.
Police in the state said they were investigating the incidents.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
SAN FRANCISCO, January 10, (THEWILL) – A United States Secret cable from its embassy in Nigeria published by Wikileaks alerted of the scam and fraud in the importation of petrol orchestrated by foreign dealers with the support of rogue government officials in the NNPC and customs.
The scam has cost the Nigerian taxpayers trillions of naira over many years and untold hardship. Several senior government personnel have looked the other way and at most times aided the scam, while these vultures devoured our common wealth for their personal wellbeing in the name of fuel subsidy. The US classified document titled: “Scandal brewing over Nigerian fuel imports†reads:
SUBJECT: SCANDAL BREWING OVER NIGERIAN FUEL IMPORTS Classified By: J. GREGOIRE FOR REASONS 1.5 (B), (D), AND (E).
(C) SUMMARY. A scandal is brewing in Nigeria over prices paid by the government for imported fuel. International fuel traders have been falsifying the dates of bills of lading to reflect particularly high market prices, overcharging the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by $300 million or more. END SUMMARY.
2. (C N/F) On April 2, Chris Finlayson, Chairman and Managing Director of Shell Petroleum Development Corporation of Nigeria (SPDC), told Consul General and Econoff that a scandal is brewing within the NNPC over payments made to international fuel marketers. Finlayson said some marketers have been changing the dates when fuel shipments bound for Nigeria were loaded in order to take advantage of particularly high market prices. He said the total overpayment by NNPC may be as high as $330 million. Finlayson noted that Shell is not one of the marketers in question, but is becoming a leading fuel supplier for NNPC.
3. (C N/F) On April 6, Femi Otedola, President and CEO of Zenon Petroleum and Gas, the largest supplier of diesel fuel in Nigeria, essentially corroborated Finlayson’s report. Otedola said over $300 million has been overpaid by NNPC for fuel imports, and that many leading international traders are involved. According to Otedola, NNPC contracts to pay its suppliers the market price on the day a ship is loaded with fuel. He said NNPC recently discovered, however, that bills of lading were altered to reflect loading on days of high market prices. Discrepancies were found when comparing dates on the bills of lading with dates of landing in Lagos.
4. (C N/F) Pointing to examples, Otedola said that while a tanker loading fuel at a refinery in Bahrain usually takes four weeks to arrive in Lagos, comparisons between the bills of lading and dates of arrival of some shipments reflected only a four-day difference, and in other cases, if taken at face value, indicated the journey took nine months. Otedola said 73 shipments from refineries in the Persian Gulf, England, and Venezuela listed delivery times of only one day. NNPC is attempting to get compensation for the over-charge. Otedola went on that most of the fuel traders supplying Nigeria are implicated in over-charging NNPC, and showed a list of 17 companies that supplied fuel in the first quarter of 2004, several of which, he said, are significant players in international markets, such as Trafigura and Vitol. Otedola added that three companies clearly not involved in the scandal are British Petroleum, ChevronTexaco and Shell.
5. (C N/F) Otedola recommended that NNPC stop contracting with international fuel traders and negotiate purchases directly from refineries worldwide. According to him, such a move would have two positive effects. Otedola calculates that NNPC would save some four billion dollars a year in expenditures on imported fuel. (Note: Prior to deregulation in October 2003, NNPC, then the sole importer of fuel, lost two billion dollars per year because it sold stock to retailers below purchase price. After October 2003, NNPC initially stopped subsidizing fuel sales, letting marketers import fuel to be sold at market prices. However, sources agree that NNPC is back in the business of subsidizing gasoline sales while it maintains a facade of deregulation by encouraging private marketers to import fuel that NNPC purchases at market price. NNPC then sells the fuel to marketers and retailers at a reduced price to ensure that those companies maintain a profit margin while holding consumer prices to informal caps set by the Department of Petroleum Resources. End Note.)
6. (C N/F) Otedola added that by cutting out the international traders, NNPC would also enhance the environment in which Nigeria’s refineries could be restored and operated. Otedola said he believes international fuel trade “mafias” are behind the failure to bring Nigeria’s refineries back on-line and to capacity. Otedola is convinced these traders arrange for the vandalization of crude oil feeder pipelines, which keep the refineries at Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna closed or under-capacity. He said the international traders generally receive at least one million dollars per shipload of fuel to Nigeria and have grown accustomed to the easy money Nigeria offers as long its refineries remain down.
7. (C N/F) As an example, Otedola described an arrangement the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) had with Sahara Energy for the provision of diesel to an emergency power generation plant in Abuja. He said that while a pipeline was under construction to deliver fuel to the main power plant, NEPA paid some five billion dollars to Sahara over four years for diesel to the back-up plant. It was later discovered that NEPA had received only about one billion dollars worth of fuel, according to Otedola. Otedola said that he, too, was contracted to deliver diesel fuel to the plant on occasion; however, he petitioned the president to investigate the matter after becoming suspicious of NEPA’s ongoing contract with Sahara and the fact that the pipeline for the power plant was never finished. He said his intervention led to an investigation that ultimately resulted in the cancellation of NEPA’s contract with Sahara.
8. (C N/F) COMMENT: The allegation that international traders bilked NNPC of hundreds of millions of dollars is yet another example of the poor management of Nigeria’s energy sector, and highlights the complex links between crude sales, fuel importation, refinery maintenance, and energy production here. Otedola is probably right in suggesting that long-standing sweetheart deals between the NNPC and a variety of fuel traders is keeping the system inefficient. That may also explain why the GON just can’t seem to get its refineries running even after spending a billion dollars or more on maintenance contracts over the last four years. Otedola said he initially bid to purchase the Port Harcourt refinery offered for privatization, but he recently told President Obasanjo he will not invest in the refinery so long as NNPC purchases fuel from traders instead of negotiating directly with refineries in other countries and leasing ships itself to deliver fuel to Nigeria. It is not clear if Otedola’s assumption that the international traders’ stake in Nigeria’s current fuel market is the main driver behind the country’s refinery woes. But it is clear that the fundamentals of infrastructure security, interim supply stability, and transactional transparency must still be addressed if the GON is to be taken seriously about its efforts to deregulate and largely privatize Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector. END COMMENT. HINSON-JONES
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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