Daily Archives: May 15, 2014

Jonathan rules out prisoner swap for missing girls

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Nigeria‘s President Goodluck Jonathan has ruled out the release of Boko Haram fighters in exchange for the freedom of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the militants a month ago.
 
Britain’s Africa minister Mark Simmonds, in Nigeria for talks about the international rescue mission, told reporters Wednesday that he raised the issue with Jonathan during a meeting in Abuja.
“I did discuss this with the president and he made it very clear that there will be no negotiation with Boko Haram that involves a swap of abducted schoolgirls for prisoners”, he told reporters.
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau suggested in a video released on Monday that he may be prepared to release the girls if Nigeria freed militants held in the country’s jails.
Interior Minister Abba Moro immediately rejected the plan, telling AFP that the Islamist group, which has waged a deadly insurgency in northeast Nigeria since 2009, could not dictate terms.
A door appeared to have opened to discussions about the girls on Tuesday, when special duties minister Taminu Turaki indicated that the teenagers’ freedom could up for discussion.
Simmonds said Jonathan had now ruled that out, he added that the president was still prepared to fulfil his pledge of talking to the extremists about wider issues to end the violence.
– International search and support –
The rejection of a prisoner swap came as international powers ramped up the search effort, including with the use of US military surveillance drones and manned aircraft.
The Pentagon said it had deployed the robotic Global Hawk, which flies at high altitude, and the manned MC-12, a propeller plane heavily used in Afghanistan.
Both types of aircraft are “unarmed” and strictly being used for surveillance.
However, the data is not yet being shared with the Nigerians because Washington is still working out an agreement to govern the sharing of intelligence, Colonel Steven Warren told reporters
Hawkish Republican Senator John McCain said the Pentagon should consider acting unilaterally and sending US special forces in to rescue the girls.
He mocked the capabilities of Nigeria‘s military and said any special forces entry to deal with the Boko Haram “animals” should be done without their knowledge.
US military officials said privately that a rescue mission would be fraught with massive risks and dangers and that it currently was not deemed an option.
In London, British Prime Minister David Cameron told parliament a Sentinel surveillance aircraft and a military team would be sent to Abuja to assist in the search.
France, Israel and China are also involved, with the hunt focused on the Sambisa forest area of Borno state, although there are fears the girls may have been split up and taken to neighbouring Chad or Cameroon.
Worldwide interest has been growing in the plight of the missing girls after 276 teenagers were abducted from their school in the remote northeastern town of Chibok on April 14. A total of 223 are still missing.
Jonathan’s office said he had received “solidarity calls” from the prime ministers of Algeria, Abdelmalek Sellal, and Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif.
In Paris, President Francois Hollande’s office said the leaders of Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad would meet with Jonathan in the French capital on Saturday for a security summit.
Representatives from the European Union, Britain and the United States would also attend, the Elysee said.
“The meeting will discuss… how to cut off (Boko Haram) by intelligence, how to train to fight and drive out the killers,” Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius added.
– Special powers –
Jonathan on Tuesday requested parliamentary approval for a six-month state of emergency first imposed in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states on May 14 last year.
Lawmakers in the lower House of Representatives began discussing the issue while senators from the upper chamber summoned the ministers of defence and police affairs, military and security chiefs to brief them on Thursday.
By law, the request has to be approved by two-thirds of both chambers.
The extension request was widely expected but its effectiveness has been questioned.
The governor of Yobe state, however, voiced his opposition to extending the state of emergency and it is likely that Borno and Adamawa will follow suit.
All three states are run by the main opposition All Progressives Congress party, which is eyeing power in next year’s general election.
Attacks have increased on rural areas leading to mounting civilian casualties. More than 1,500 are estimated to have been killed this year alone.
Security analysts have urged Nigeria to improve its counter-insurgency tactics including more use of intelligence, instead of just conventional means, to defeat guerrilla fighters.
International military leaders hope their expertise could help refine Nigeria‘s tactics against Boko Haram. AFP
 

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Bi- Courtney to upgrade operational equipment at MMA2

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Chief Executive Officer of Bi- Courtney Aviation Services Limited, Mr. Christophe Pennick yesterday said that the company will invest over N500 million on the upgrade of operational equipment in 2014.
Speaking to newsmen at the Domestic wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport,  MMA2, Mr. Pennick noted that the N500 million investment would cover the replacement of escalators, elevators and cooling system at the terminal building.
According to him, the firm has concluded plans to replace the existing check-in counters noting that the check-in counters will be increase from 31 to 45 at the departure hall to enhance capacity for new airlines.
Mr. Pennick further stressed that Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited have decided to upgrade facilities at MMA2, to give airlines and passengers who utilise the terminal value for their money.
He said that one of the major challenge facing the company was power as it has spent huge sums of money in the purchase of diesel to power its generators in order to keep the terminal functional.
Mr. Pennick said over 99,000 litres of diesel was utilised monthly on running generators, which he said is the source of power supply at the terminal.
Meanwhile, the Chief Operating Officer of Bi- Courtney Aviation Services, Adebisi Awoniyi said the upgrade of operational facilities at the terminal was necessary to pursue maintenance culture, which has become topical in Nigeria.
She said: “We are changing all 31 check- in counters to 45 counter, like you have in other airports across the globe, fitted with three bar coded system as well as baggage reconciliation system”
“Our plan is to become the best terminal that is IcAo compliant in West Africa. Airlines are very happy over the upgrade of facilities, to raise the bar in air travel. In 2014 alone we plan to invest over five hundred million naira to upgrade our terminal facilities. In a difficult business environment , like ours, it is not easy to run an airport terminal”
“We are also upgrading the conveyor belts, we are working with the handling agents  to improve the baggage handling system as well as improve the turn around time”
On power supply, She said the MMA 2  has never experienced power outage, because the terminal runs on generators.
She said the PHCN , has limited capacity to supply power to the terminal stressing that PHCN should expand its power supply capacity to enable it deliver qualitative services to the passengers.
 

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Pope speaks out against arms trade, refugee crises

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VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis spoke on Thursday of the “absurd contradiction” between the international community’s calls for peace, the proliferation of the global arms trade and the lack of attention to the suffering of refugees.
“Everyone talks about peace, everyone says they want it but unfortunately the proliferation of all types of arms is leading us in the opposite direction,” Francis told a group of new ambassadors to the Holy See.
“It would be an absurd contradiction to talk about peace, negotiate peace and at the same time promote or allow the arms trade,” he said at the Vatican ceremony.
Addressing the issue of refugees after the death of 17 asylum-seekers in a shipwreck near Libya on Monday, the pope said: “We can’t just chase after emergencies”.
“It is time to confront this issue in a serious and responsible way with a political perspective,” he said.
“In a way it is cynical to proclaim human rights and at the same time ignore or fail to care for the men and women forced to leave their homelands who die trying or do not receive international solidarity,” he said.
“There are stories that make us cry and shame us about human beings, brothers and sisters… who undertake perilous voyages and undergo kidnapping, torture and all types of suffering, ending up sometimes dead in the desert or at the bottom of the sea,” he said.
Immigration rights campaigners estimate that more than 20,000 migrants have died in the Mediterranean Sea trying to reach Italian shores in the last 20 years.
Hundreds of irregular migrants — most of them Eritrean, Somali and Syrian — are arriving in Italy on an almost daily basis in what the government has termed an “emergency” that requires European intervention.
 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Nigeria of resilience, helplessness and a shared identity

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LEARNED helplessness wasfirst demonstrated by Martin Seligman and his colleagues. They identified conditions under which dogs would demonstrate apathetic behaviour when they were punished by means of electric shock. In the experiment, dogs were continually electrocuted to the point where they simply accepted electrocution and did not try to escape it.
The dogs learned, correctly, that electrocution was unavoidable, and with this acquired knowledge, they simply lay down on the surface of their cages and took the shocks. By doing so, they demonstrated what is meant by learned helplessness.”  Learned Helplessness as a Correlate of Psychosis: 
Examining evidence of learned helplessness in various types of schizophrenia.  Published on January 4, 2014 by  Dr. Ann Olson, Psy.D.  in  Theory and Psychopathology
Every morning I wake up, say a prayer, head to the gym to do some running, get dressed, head to work, study, speak to friends and loved ones. pretty normal life, you might say. If someone were to follow me around they would imagine that I was happy and all was well.
It isn’t.
I, like many other Nigerians, am scared. I’m terrified and sad, at the state of my beloved country. I never would have dreamed that I would be living in a place like this, where the reports of numerous people dying becomes so frequent that the mind is almost numbed to it. Numbers are thrown around: 500, 234, 70, 90, 50, 4, these are not just numbers, these are lives that have been cut short, people that have died senselessly. 
These are people who woke up in the morning trying to get to work, like I do everyday, and died burning, or cut down, or gunned down, over a grudge they had nothing to do with. Children, who for the sake of a better life, went to school in the morning, and found themselves being herded off into the forest, at gunpoint, to serve the whims of wicked monsters they did not offend. The tales of tragedy scare me. they make me angry, they make me sad. 
I, like many other Nigerians, am heartbroken. I weep for the orphaned children, the suddenly childless mothers, the number of people living in total fear, of an enemy they could not possibly imagine. An enemy with an indiscriminate bloodlust. For these people, death has become a part of their reality. Innocence has been lost forever. Their homes, their schools, their churches and mosques could become their tombs at any time. The mental torture that these people have been subjected to will manifest in more serious ways in the near future, in their anger and resentment at a country that does nothing but try to kill you. I weep for this generation of Nigerians.
I, like many other Nigerians, am angry. I am angry because I feel helpless. I am angry because the institutions tasked with the protection of lives and property, the security and well being of citizens, that most basic tenet of what it means to be a human being, are failing. No matter your political allegiances or familial connections, it is a glaring fact that has to be accepted by all, for us to even move forward. Do I believe that there is high level complicity by the military, the government or any other conspiracy theories? I do not. I have family members in the military, men and women of unquestionable character and integrity, who have ben risking their lives for this country since even before I was born, but the fact is that this is a threat that seems to have overwhelmed even this patriotic class of Nigerians. 
There is a place and a time to ask why. Why are these things happening? Who is behind this? What do they want? I don’t believe that time is now. This is the time for leadership, this is the time for ownership. This is the time that we as Nigerians must come together to condemn and fight back at this common enemy, because that is what this is. This is not the time for name calling. This is not the time to insult the President or the armed forces, this is the time to act. 
When people are afraid to go to work, to go to the market, to go to school, then the enemy succeeds. When we are divided amongst ourselves, with half of us calling the president and government incompetent fools, and the other half of us taking up arms in defence of these institutions, then the enemy succeeds. When those who should know better, the religious leaders who have, by virtue of our Nigerian spirituality, ascribed so much power to themselves, when they speak untruths, hypocrisy and cowardice, to protect their positions or deliberately mislead, this demonic enemy succeeds. When those amongst us, full of patriotic fervour, decide to take to the streets, or start campaigns to persuade the government to act, and we sit at home and criticise them and their motives, the enemy succeeds. When we complain about how Nigeria was set up to fail 100 years ago by the British, and how we need to break up to survive, the enemy succeeds. When we resort to ethnic and religious bigotry, blaming other tribes and faiths, or insensitivity to the suffering of others, when we refuse to give help, no matter how small, to those around us in such obvious need, this enemy succeeds.
We as citizens of this great nation must strive to do as much as we can to protect our neighbours and ensure that we and our children have a safe place to live in.
We as YOUTHS have an even greater imperative than our parents to do this. In a nation with over 70% of us under the age of 30, we have no other hope but a strong, safe Nigeria. 
The rest of the world, whether we like their interference or not, also has a responsibility to offer assistance to the government of Nigeria. There are 170 million of us, the world is not big enough for a Nigerian refugee crisis. 
Invention is at the very core of what it means to be Nigerian. We create electricity for ourselves, we tap water for ourselves, we create economic opportunities in the midst of unemployment. We are loud, We are entrepreneurs, We are friendly, We are beautiful, We are colourful. We are strong, We are big, We solve problems. This is what it means to be Nigerian. This is who we are. I have seen many people writing about a lack of shared identity, but you can go to any corner of the country, and you will meet people who possess the qualities i have talked about. This is who we are. This is where we have to start from. This is what we have to reinforce. This is the reason why my father could go to Borno all those years ago to set up a hospital, learn the language and raise children there. This is the reason why entrepreneurs from the east have always built thriving businesses in the North. North, south, east and west, We all depend on each other. This is unquestionable. This is not negotiable. We are all fully invested in this nation, and we cannot throw her future away.
What can we do to help, as citizens? 
1.  We have to be vigilant:  http://www.npf.gov.ng/emergency-contact  Here  is a list from the Nigeria police website with the mobile numbers of the CP’s and senior officials of the force. I know there is a lot of cynicsm about this, but you absolutely HAVE to report any suspicious behavior around you. We all have that responsibility. Find out who is in charge, the details of your nearest police station, find out names of officers, find out numbers and call them.  Security is only as good as intelligence, and we must help the security forces, not demonize them.
 
2.  We have to be Proactive:  A democracy is only as strong as the citizens are. we have to be aware of what is happening, and put pressure on our elected representatives to tackle this issue head on. you and i don’t have the power to send soldiers to Chibok, but we can make sure that the representatives that we have put in government do that, because they are accountable to us. I cannot understate the importance of social media, but above that there have to be active, fearless engagement with people in authority, to make sure that they act. 
http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/over-200-girls-are-missing-in-nigeria-please-help-find-them-bringbackourgirls
This is a petition for the Nigerian Government over the 234 missing girls, please sign and share, and spread awareness. We can underestimate the power of social media in Nigeria today, but everyone can see that it’s becoming increasingly useful and important in creating and sustaining awareness. The worldwide awareness that this campaign has gathered is proof of that. it will only get more important in future. Understand it, use it, but also go out in the world and demand answers.
For my friends joining protest marches, I urge you to be careful, to be vigilant and to understand and keep track of the reasons why you are demonstrating. peaceful protests will do the job, riots will not.  Antagonizing the very people who we depend on to get to the bottom of this, will also not help.
3.  We have to be tolerant:  What we are facing is not an attack on Christians, neither is it an attack on Muslims. It is the systematic assault on every Nigerian. these are people trying to put fear in our hearts, the fear of them, the fear of our neighbors, the fear of other religions and tribes. we refuse to be afraid, we refuse to discriminate, and we refuse to be broken. We are Christian, Muslim, we are Igbo, Ijaw, Yoruba or Fulani, but we are NIGERIAN. One Nigeria. 
We have to fight ignorance wherever we see it. It is our duty to educate people and correct our friends, colleagues and families when we hear incorrect, bigoted statements. Such thinking will not help us out of this mess, but will deepen and prolong our suffering.
4.  We have to be compassionate:  Right now there are thousand of people that have been displaced from their homes as a result of this crisis. There are children with no parents; there are people who have lost everything valuable. We have to contribute to these lives; we have to help them. There are hundreds of people in hospitals with little or no blood in some cases. There is always something we can do to help, to reassure our brothers that the country cares for them, cares for its people, and they have a future here. 
The guys at Lifebank have built an amazing app that makes finding and donating blood easier:  https://www.facebook.com/LifeBankApp
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Communities-Without-Boundaries-International/195121830505148
Communities without borders and Purple hearts ng are helping out in Northern Nigeria too, I will find other charities helping out, and even if you cant physically support them I beg you to engage with them, donate, and provide any support that you can
We are not helpless. We are facing something that, while a new phenomenon, has been bubbling under the surface for a while,
because of priorities that we have collectively refused to address until now, for whatever reason. But if God keeps us, I am RESOLUTE in my conviction that my generation will be different. We will prioritize education; employment and we will address and learn from our history, no matter how dark it may be. The lesson not learnt is the mistake repeated. 
God bless Nigeria, God bless us all.
Mr.FESTUS OKUBOR, an Impact  Investment Analyst, wrote from Lagos.
 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Osun govt. bans indiscriminate use of siren

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The Osun Government on Thursday banned indiscriminate use of siren in the state, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
Mr Sunday Akere, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, announced the ban in a press statement he signed and made available to journalists in Osogbo.
“The governor exercising the powers vested in him by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), and Section 10(2) of the Police Act, Cap. P19, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2010 has through this instrument prohibits the indiscriminate use of siren in the state,’’ the statement said.
Akere said those exempted from the ban were the police, ambulances, fire-fighters and the Armed Forces who by the nature of their duties were mandated to use siren.
He added that apart from those listed, nobody was allowed to use siren within the territorial boundary of the state.
“Anybody that contravenes the letters of this instrument should be prepared to face the full wrath of the law.
“As this constitutes noise pollution which is not healthy for our society,’’ the statement said. 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Cervical Cancer is curable- Dr. Windapo

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A renowned medical practitioner Bayo Windapo of the Polybond medical services has said that cervical cancer is curable if it is detected early.
The doctor made this known at the 2014 Health intervention programme held in Lagos by Human development Initiatives (HDI), a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization working to safeguard the reproductive rights and health of women (particularly widows), children, adolescents and youths.
Dr Windapo who spoke extensively on cervical cancer introduced a new technology in cancer detection called Luviva. Luviva is designed as a new non-invasive test that has the potential to significantly improve the early detection of cervical precancers. LuViva is designed as a fast, painless test that – unlike Pap smears and HPV testing – does not require a tissue sample or the delay of laboratory analysis.
“Early detection of cancer and precancers greatly improves survival, and LuViva is designed to help preserve the reproductive health of women” Windapo said.
LuViva uses proprietary technology to identify cancers and precancers quickly by analyzing light reflected from the cervix. The technology distinguishes between normal and diseased tissue by detecting biochemical and morphological changes at the cellular level.
Other highlights of the events include; Health screening (Blood Pressure Check, Temperature, Urine test ‘Urinalysis’, Height and Weight check), Diabetes test, HIV test, consultation and counselling, treatment of minor ailments with available Over The Counter (OTC) Drugs and referral of cases for expert management as necessary.
According to the programme coordinator, Mrs Bolanle Dare “ the exercise is in continuance of our objective to safeguard the reproductive health & rights of widows, we are organizing health intervention for Women in 3 different locations namely: Yaba LCDA / Mainland LGA, Somolu LGA, and Bariga LCDA in Lagos State. The aim of the programme is to create a forum for health education on prevailing health problems affecting women and also to enlighten the women on the importance of constant medical checkup”
She further noted that similar exercise will take place in Shomolu and Bariga in July and August respectively.
 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Death toll rises to 282 in Turkey mine explosion

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Energy  Minister Taner Yildiz  said on Thursday that the death toll of Turkey’s coal mine disaster had reached 282, making it the country’ s worst industrial disaster in history.
Yildiz said that a fire was continuing at the mine’s shaft and that rescue operations were suspended during the night due to accumulated carbon monoxide.
“Hopes of finding more survivors are diminishing during the last 12 hours; no miner has been rescued alive.
“The disaster occurred in the privately-owned mine in the western province of Manisa during a shift changeover while the fire broke out 150 metres underground,’’ Yildiz said.
Report says that as Soma Madencilik, the company that owns the mine, does not keep entry and exit records, no exact number is available of the number of people still trapped underground.
According to miners, between 700 and 800 workers work in one shift and the blast happened during a shift change.
There was also no clear information on the ratio of carbon dioxide and oxygen inside the mine.
There are about 1,000 people, including four rescue teams, police and journalists on the rescue scene and security has been strengthened.
Family members of miners were not allowed to stay at the rescue scene.
More than 3,000 people have died and more than 100,000 have been injured in mining accidents since 1941 in Turkey, figures from Turkey’s statistics agency show.
The last major mining tragedy in Turkey occurred in 1992 when a fire and explosion killed 263 people.
Two other big mining accidents took place in 1983 and 1990, leaving 103 and 68 dead respectively. (Xinhua/NAN)
 

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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Court sentences thrift collector to 11 months in prison for cheating

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An Upper Area Court in Zuba, FCT, on Thursday sentenced a thrift collector, Gloria Augustine, to 11 months in prison for cheating five customers of N120,000.
Augustine, 25, who resides in Ministers’ Hill Zuba, Abuja, is charged with two counts of criminal breach of trust and
cheating.
The presiding judge, Malam Aminu Sa’ad, sentenced her after she pleaded guilty.
Sa’ad, however, gave the convict an option of N73,000 fine.
He also ordered her to refund the N120,000 she collected from the five customers.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Cpl. Momoh Ibrahim, told the court that on May 13, Mr Emeka Amos, Binta Salisu, Umaru Sadiq,
Cyprian Onuenuko and Chudac Okonkwo, all residents of Zuba, FCT, lodged a report at the police station.
Ibrahim told the court that the complainants, as at April, saved N120,000.
He said when it was time for the complainants to collect what they had saved, Augustine could not produce their money.
The prosecutor said during police interrogation, the convict confessed that her husband withdrew the money where she
lodged in their joint Eco Bank account.
He also said the offence contravened the provisions of sections 312 and 322 of the Penal Code. (NAN)
 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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NIGERIA: kidnap families want ‘unconditional’ release

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Relatives of more than 200 schoolgirls held hostage by Boko Haram on Thursday called for their unconditional release, after Nigeria‘s government ruled out a prisoner swap with the extremists.
 
Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau indicated in a video this week that he could release the 223 girls now held for more than a month in exchange for militant fighters in custody in Nigerian jails.
But Britain’s Africa minister Mark Simmonds said after meeting President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday that the head of state was adamant there “will be no negotiation that involves a swap”.
Ayuba Chibok, whose niece is among the hostages, said the girls’ detention was taking its toll on parents and families in their remote town from where the teenagers were abducted on April 14.
“For me, I want these girls released without any negotiations. Even if Boko Haram wants to request something from the government, let them request something else,” he told AFP by telephone from Chibok.
“Let (Shekau) release these girls unconditionally,” he added.
– Security chiefs quizzed –
The mass abduction — and Boko Haram claims that the girls would be sold as slaves — has led to global outrage and galvanised the international community to help Nigeria end the crisis.
US drones and manned surveillance aircraft have been deployed, the Pentagon said, while Britain was sending a spy plane and a military team to Abuja to work alongside French and Israeli experts.
In parliament, senators were quizzing security and military commanders before voting on a request by Jonathan for a six-month extension to a state of emergency in three northeast states.
Jonathan has called the security situation in the region “daunting” and said he was concerned by the mounting loss of life among civilians.
Boko Haram, which wants to create an Islamic state in Muslim-majority northern Nigeria, has been fighting an increasingly deadly insurgency since 2009 which has claimed thousands of lives.
More than 2,000 have been killed this year alone, most of them ordinary people.
Members of the lower House of Representatives were also expected to vote, with a two-thirds majority from members of both chambers required for an extension to be approved.
The state of emergency was first imposed on Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states on May 14 last year and extended in November, as attacks continued, particularly in hard-to-reach rural areas.
Yobe’s governor has already rejected extending the special powers. Borno and Adamawa are expected to follow suit.
All three are run by members of the main opposition party eyeing power at next year’s general elections.
Initial gains in forcing Boko Haram out of urban centres appeared to have been lost because of the continued strife, with questions raised about the military’s tactics and ability to curb the threat.
Analysts have said conventional means are ineffective against an enemy fighting a guerrilla war while more was needed to boost intelligence and even equip demoralised soldiers on the front line.
On Wednesday, Nigeria‘s defence spokesman said troops fired shots as the local commander carried out an inspection in the state capital of Borno, Maiduguri.
The incident followed a Boko Haram ambush which killed four soldiers returning from patrol duties in Chibok. Other reports from the region said 12 were killed.
– Rescue effort –
Foreign powers involved in the rescue effort maintain that they are only providing logistical support to the Nigerians, who are leading the search in the northeast.
Nigeria, which has a sizeable army and spends massively on defence, has previously acted alone to try to contain Boko Haram and not requested any special assistance.
President Jonathan’s acceptance of foreign help has been interpreted as an admission it cannot go it alone, with concern that a largely localised conflict could spread across the wider region.
French President Francois Hollande is hosting Jonathan and the leaders of Benin, Cameroon, Niger and Chad at a security summit on the Boko Haram threat in Paris on Saturday.
US, British and European Union officials will also attend.
The United States has said none of its troops would be used on the ground.
But former presidential candidate Senator John McCain said Wednesday the Pentagon should consider acting unilaterally and send special forces to rescue the girls.
“We’re the best-trained, most professional military in the world, and if we know where these young girls are, we should go rescue them,” he said, questioning Nigeria‘s military capability.
US military officials said privately, however, that a rescue mission would be fraught with massive risks and dangers and that it currently was not deemed an option.
 

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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IBB Denies Being Boko Haram’s Sponsor

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Few days ago news broke out on the issue of IBB sponsoring Boko Haram in Nigeria which went viral on the internet. now the spokesman of IBB PRINCE KASSIM AFEGBUA, MEDIA SPOKESMAN TO GENERAL IBB Says “Haliru Sani’s Statements Are Effusions of A Deluded Mind” 
 

The Ibrahim Babangida camp has at last offered a response to the allegation of sponsorship of the Boko Haram sect levelled against the former military President. A statement issued by General Babangida’s Media Spokesman denied any links with Sani Haliru, the repented Boko Haram member.

The statement raeds inter alia “We feel a deep sense of concern that the country is going through these obvious challenges of insecurity and bad leadership that are threatening the very fabric of the country’s foundation. We have read and assimilated the effusions of a deluded mind by name Sheik Sani Haliru, who for want of very cheap relevance decided to mention the highly respected name of IBB as one of the “sponsors” of what he called Boko Haram. From our first reading, we felt it would amount to giving undue
relevance to a confused mind if we volunteer a response, but for our teeming supporters, associates and friends of IBB, and for the price we owe history, we decided to offer this disclaimer.

 

First, General IBB cannot in his frame of mind remember any of such names called Sheik Sani Haliru whether as an Almajiri or a jihadist or both. Reading through the interview, one is easily confronted with a number of inconsistencies and well orchestrated conclusions that are spuriously out of place. One, Dele Giwa did not die of suicide bombing as claimed by Sani Haliru. It is public knowledge that he died of parcel bomb and the latest insight by Rev.Chris Omeben as published in Sunday Sun of 5th February, 2012 will form an instructive reading. Secondly, we have every cause to believe that the interview was carefully scripted to convey the message intended and not one conducted under a question and answer basis.

The responses of the said Sani Haliru attest to this fact. From that premise therefore, it will be save to conclude that the interview was structured by certain agents of government to satisfy pre-determined position. Thirdly, the questions by the interviewer are also leading questions, tending to achieve the predetermined end of the initiators of the interview. The emphasis on seeing Islam as a religion of violence is a clear indication of this motive. Fourthly, on the one hand, the interviewee declared himself to be a converted Christian, while on the other hand, he was asking for someone that will connect him to God. He talked about his fear of going to jail, why will a man of God be afraid of incarceration or jail if the cause he is pursuing is truly altruistic? How could someone with facts about Boko Haram be saying that he is afraid the SSS will arrest him if he ventured those facts, when the whole wide world is patiently waiting to get a road map out of the Boko Haram pogrom? There are also instances where third person narrative tenor is given to Sheik Sani Haliru, thus making the whole exercise curiously misleading and utterly unconscionable to warrant any serious recognition.

 

In all of these, so many conjectures, hearsays, deductions, impressions and lies were bandied in the said interview thus making the entire contents suspect. For example, his reference to the October 1st bombing in Abuja is totally at variance with what the State Security Service has unravelled about the masterminds of that dastardly incident. We are therefore at sea to reconcile any of the claims as truly reflective of any sound mind save that we have every reason to believe that this is purely a well-scripted interview to give our revered IBB a bad name. What the real motive of the interview is remains to us very worrisome because we cannot in any way rationalize the immediate or remote intentions of the interviewee and the interviewer.

For purposes of record, General IBB wishes to disclaim whoever that might have granted such interview and wish to emphatically state that there is no iota of truth in whatever the interviewee must have put down. There is no connection whatsoever between himself and the so-called Sheik Sani Haliru. It will serve good purpose if the said Sani Haliru could disclose his age in 1985, 1987 and 1992, because his claim of 44 years of Boko Haram activities could be self-contradicting if we are able to know his real age. 1985 till date is a record 27 years.

 

By the time we subtract that age from 44 , the guess is as good as mine. One couldn’t possibly know what feat a 17 years old boy would perform in 1985 to warrant any linkage with IBB. It will also be of good use if he could disclose the instances where IBB is directly and indirectly connected or linked to his activities, how much money he was given, who gave the money and what period of time?

 

The uncomplimentary adjectives he used to describe General IBB further expose the underpinning lies in the interview. Every Nigerian that has had opportunity of interacting with this great Nigerian called IBB from North to South, East to West, would concede to the bare-faced fact that General IBB is generally a likeable person, generous, kind and very hearty personality whose contributions to national development and unity of Nigeria remain unparalleled in the history of Nigeria. For such a leader who has put his all in the development and unity of the country to now get involved in such heinous activities as described by the so-called Sani Haliru stands logic on its head.

All the insinuations as to the deliberate effort of IBB trying to Islamise Nigeria are clear indications that Sani Haliru is suffering from self-delusion. Perhaps, he did not realize the fact that IBB’s Vice-Presidents and some of his key players in his cabinet were Christians. He also might have forgotten that it was in the same regime that our broken diplomatic ties with Israel were restored to allow Nigerians embark on Holy Pilgrimage to Jerusalem. If we are to follow all the writings in the Bible, and interpret them likewise, one will be tempted to say that the Bible is preaching violence too. But the word of God cannot be interpreted on its face value; hence men should be wary about drawing conclusions that are informed by their limited understanding of the word of God.

We therefore wish to inform the public to disregard and ignore whoever might be the face behind that name called Sheik Sani Haliru and the message of doom that he seems desperate to propagate. We wish to assure our teeming members’ world-wide that as elder statesman, General IBB will not desist from offering his plausible contributions to national discourse and that no amount of blackmail can take that leadership away from this great icon. The unity and peaceful co-existence of Nigeria is very dear to General IBB and having fought in the 30months civil war of the late sixties, he would do everything humanly possible to avert any descent to anarchy in our fatherland.

We challenge both the interviewee and interviewer to disclose the documents they claim to have to prove us wrong, otherwise, they should keep their mouths shut forever.”

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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.
ionyclaret@gmail.com
https://www.codewit.com
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