The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has obtained closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of how Arik Air staff, Ikechukwu Chibuzor Oliver who works as a catering loader smuggled three bags of cocaine among food supplies for flight W3101. The Agency also invited the younger brother of main suspect, Chika Egwu Udensi for questioning.
Mr. Uwachi Amos Udensi, 32 years old was invited in connection with alleged complicity in the ongoing investigation of 20kg of cocaine seized by the United Kingdom Border Force at Heathrow Airport. The vehicles seized from Chika Egwu Udensi include a Land Rover, an Equinox Chevrolet and a Dodge Hemi Magnum.
Narcotic investigators are still working on evidences so far gathered on the case. However, it is important to state that the management of Arik Air is giving necessary assistance to the Agency.
Meanwhile the Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade who expressed satisfaction with the success of investigation, directed investigators to further widen their search for more collaborators. “I am impressed with the success recorded in the ongoing investigation. The swift arrest of the main accomplice reflects our determination to speedily bring to justice all parties to the crime. Let me reassure Nigerians and the international community that those behind this crime has no hiding place” Giade stated.
Further investigation has shown that Mr. Chika the main suspect lives ostentatious lifestyle far beyond his salary. He is also believed to be involved in laundering illicit proceeds of drugs under the cover of automobile importation.
The operational tasking order issued by NDLEA Chairman to its operatives to look inwards into the activities of the Agency and other airport workers is an immediate measure to avert acts of compromise calculated to undermine airport security.
A major tragedy was on Saturday averted in Yenagoa as uniformed security personnel attached to the state chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Tiwe Orunimighe and one of its governorship aspirants, Timi Alaibe allegedly opened fire in an attempt to escape arrest from men of the Bayelsa State Environmental Sanitation Board.
During the shooting which lasted for 10 minutes, residents of Yenagoa scampered for safety to avoid possible stray bullets.
The Chairman of BSESB, Hon. Oboku Offorji, at a press briefing after the incident raised the alarm over possible breakdown of law and order in the State as the December 5 governorship election approaches.
He alleged that both Tiwe and Alaibe flouted the state sanitation law by driving in a convoy without permit during the period of the exercise but were stopped by sanitation officers.
“In bid to escape arrest, policemen in their convoy came out and shot sporadically, saying it was a threat to law and order in the state”, Offorji stated.
According to him, before the incident, the younger brother to another APC governorship aspirant, Godknows Powell, accompanied by a policeman had also flouted the sanitation law by driving around during the exercise without any permit and was stopped by the sanitation officers.
Offorji however claimed that they resorted to violence in a bid to escape when the policeman in the vehicle released gunshots into the air but that men of the sanitation office led by the chairman quickly impounded the vehicle and was towed to its office.
Offorji said the BSESB has concluded plans to lodge a formal petition to the police authorities to effect the arrest of the policemen used by these politicians to undermine the peace in the state.
He also said similar efforts were being made to invite the APC chairman, Tiwe and Alaibe for questioning and possible arrest for flouting the state environmental law.
Offorji expressed surprise why political leaders who should show good examples, would act irrationally, saying such behavior was capable of influencing others to cultivate lawlessness to the detriment of the society.
Twenty persons have died of cholera in the Shira Local Government Area (LGA), of Bauchi State.
This is contained in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), by the Information Officer in the LGA, Malam Danlami Baza, in Bauchi on Saturday.
The statement said 200 persons were admitted in the hospital.
It added that the Acting Chairman of the LGA, Alhaji Usman Mashema, called on the public to come out for treatment as soon as they noticed any sign of cholera.
The statement appealed to the Federal and State Governments as well as donor agencies to come to the aid of those affected.
It added that the affected communities included Bakul, Dunmagari and Gallari, among others.
The Department of State Service (DSS), said it had disrupted a spying network mounted by the Boko Haram terrorists at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
This, it added, was the result of the arrest of a suspected Boko Haram terrorist, Sulaiymon Abdulraman from Kogi.
This information is conveyed in a statement issued by an operative of the service, Mr Tony Opuiyo, in Abuja on Saturday.
The statement said the arrest was the result of collaboration with the aviation security of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
“The Service, in liaison with aviation security of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, disrupted a spying network mounted by the Boko Haram terrorists on Aug. 24.
“The suspect has confessed that he infiltrated the airport with the assistance of one Dauda Sadiq who is presently at large.
“Abdulraman said Dauda directed him to spy on installations at the airport and pass the information to him.’’
It said the Service was working closely with major aviation stakeholders, especially the aviation security, to forestall any possible attack and to ensure adequate security at airports.
“This is aside other measures which have been put in place to ensure protection of lives and property across the country”, it said.
The statement urged members of the public to remain vigilant and patriotic by being security-conscious at all times.
It urged the public to report all cases and persons of suspicious character to the nearest security agency.
“The public is further enjoined to assist with information that could be useful in stamping out insecurity.
The death toll from the ghastly motor accident which occurred at the Nkalagu junction of the Enugu-Abakaliki express road on Friday, has reached seven.
Mr Charles Aborchi, the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission in Ebonyi, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakaliki on Saturday.
This followed his earlier confirmation of the death of three persons in the crash on Friday.
“The hospital authorities informed us that the death toll has reached seven – five male and two female passengers.
He had noted that officers of the command responded on receiving the news of the crash and led the evacuation of the dead and injured.
“The dead victims have been deposited at the Annunciation Hospital in Emene, Enugu, while the injured are receiving treatment at the same hospital”, he said.
He advised motorist to drive carefully as reckless driving had resulted in wasteful loss of lives on the roads.
“Over speeding causes death as drivers suddenly attempt to stop the vehicles and when this fails, the result is mostly fatal’’, he said.
An eye witness simply identified as Chibuzor told NAN that the accident involved two 14-seater buses travelling in opposite directions and were on speed.
“I was inside a vehicle going to Abakaliki from Enugu. One of the buses attempted to overtake a smaller vehicle also going to Abakaliki.
“The bus driver did not see an oncoming bus. He lost control and this resulted in a fatal head-on collision of the buses.
“All the cars travelling at that time stopped to rescue the victims.
Mrs Edith Alegu, an indigene of the area, rued the spate of accidents which occur on the road.
“When the road was impassible, drivers used to be cautious but with its present rehabilitation, drivers go on top speed as if there is no tomorrow”, she said.
The Imo State House of Assembly has passed resolution urging the state governor, Governor Rochas Okorocha to interface with President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the planned reversal of the university status already granted the Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri, by the immediate past government of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
Speaking on a motion to that effect, the state House of Assembly rejected in its entirely, moves by the Federal Government to reverse the status of the University of Education to a college of education few months after it was granted.
In the motion, presented during the plenary session, as a matter of urgent public importance by the member representing Ikeduru state constituency, Hon. Uche Oguwuike, House urged the Imo state government to as a matter of urgency interface with the Federal Government to ensure that the university’s status remains, given the fact that the university has been assigned a vice chancellor in the person of Prof. Sadiq Abubakar.
The motion attracted reactions by majority of the state lawmakers with many kicking against any plan to reverse the status of the university to a college of education.
The member representing Aboh Mbaise constituency, Mike Iheanetu said that the planned reversion of the university’s status to a college was borne out of sheer hatred on the people of Imo State and Ndigbo in general, even as he lamented that by so doing, those behind the purported plan wished that the effort of the immediate past Minister of Education, Prof (Mrs.) Viola Onwuliri were in vain.
According to the lawmaker who spoke in order that Imo state government should as a matter of urgency interface with the Federal Government to ensure that the university’s status remains, given the fact that the university has been assigned a vice chancellor in the person of Prof. Sadiq Abubakar.
The House also considered among other things that the rummoured reversion of the university’s status was not unconnected with the fact that Ndigbo and people of Imo State were still regarded as second class citizens since after the civil war which ended in 1970.
However, in an apparent step to ensure that the motion which has majority support of the state lawmakers, sailed through, the member representing Isu constituency, Hon. (Mrs.) Ngozi Obiefule was quickly overruled giving way for Hon. Kennedy Ibeh (Obowo), Oguwuike (Ikeduru), Hon. Iheanetu (Aboh Mbaise), Hon. Chinedu Ofor and others to support the House of assembly resolution, mandating the governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha to lead a high-power delegation to the Federal Government to ensure that it retains the university’s status.
The race was dicey up till that point. The odds were stacked in Jonathan’s favor as incumbent with keys to the nation’s treasury. While progressives were set on battle and ready for a fight to finish, analysts still suggested that the ruling PDP party would likely win. But this changed on the fateful day that then president Goodluck Jonathan chose the one and only Femi Fani-Kayode, FFK now known as Olu Kayode as his campaign spokesman.
Choosing FFK was the nail that sealed Jonathan’s fate. Who would have thought that Nigeria’s president and ruling party would by themselves hammer the nail that sealed their coffin?
FFK is perhaps the most hated Nigerian. The notorious former Aviation minister is probably the most despised career politician and political employment dependent (PED) Nigerian there is. Of all PEDs in Nigeria, known for their switching party as promise presents, FFK by being one of the most vocal, stands out perhaps the most and is the symbol of the principle-void of the PEDs.
When Jonathan selected PED FFK, Nigerians behind the then opposition, APC party sat back and relaxed a little, recognizing that Jonathan had at last revealed himself beyond doubt to all. Selecting a PED who was known for lashing out the worst against his very party was the most suicidal and/or clueless singular act of the then president. No one had better dissed and dismissed Jonathan than FFK.
Let’s rehash a few of the notable comments from FFK that would rapidly erode whatever hope of a victory Jonathan still had.
FFK is remembered for being a foremost Nigerian who condemned Jonathan of being behind the Boko Haram terror saga. Perhaps one of Jonathan’s most incriminating statements was his defense of Boko Haram as his siblings. On August 13, 2012, FFK posted this on his faceBook wall: ‘”They((Boko Haram) are our siblings and you cannot send the army to wipe out your family”- President Goodluck Jonathan (NEWS).”‘
He followed up the post by quoting Kayode Ogundamisi, ‘”I have no intention of insulting Mr President by concluding that he’s insane. His referring to Boko Haram as “our siblings” leaves me with no choice”- Kayode Ogundamisi.”‘
And then gave a final stroke against Jonathan, “BH have killed over 3000 people in two years and GEJ calls them our siblings? I weep for Nigeria. Don’t even know whether to laugh or cry.”
These were the type of things FFK was known for during his opposition years. He was brutal and lethal against Jonathan and the PDP.
He was on all TV shows describing the PDP party and the then President’s response to terror as treacherous and putrid. Quoting him ss relayed in ThisDay on the 6th of June, 2014,
‘“The PDP will continue to sink because it is a political party that has lost its bearing and its soul and it has mortgaged its conscience. It has also lost the source and strength of its inspiration and moral authority in the distinguished person of President Olusegun Obasanjo, who really was the glue that bound the party together and kept it going against all odds.”
Still in the same essay, Fani-Kayode said the PDP has become a party that is beyond redemption and that “the removal of Tukur cannot change that. I say this because no sensible person will go back to a stinking carcass simply because the head of the dead animal has been cut off and thrown away. A carcass remains a carcass whether you cut off its head, legs or any other part of its body or not. Whichever way, it remains as dead as a dodo and it only awaits a formal burial.
“The truth is that the vultures are already feeding fat on the rotting and decaying cadaver of the PDP and whether anyone likes to hear it or not, the truth is that the party can never be whole again. As I said eight months ago, it is a party that has been rejected by God and whose leaders are suffering God’s judgment for their unjust, gluttonous, wicked, foul and evil ways.”’
This was the best of FFK. This was what made FFK the most despised PED to the PDP party. And it was this very man, and most vociferous critic of the PDP and Jonathan that the very party selected to be its spokesman. Was this move insane or suicidal?
Some of us thought Jonathan was deliberately tossing in the towel. We simply unleashed FK against FFK the minute he began his spokesman role and the rest days were a laugh to victory.
The day PED FFK was selected as PDP campaign spokesman was the day millions of Nigerians who might have voted for the PDP switched party or decided to no longer vote.
It was a move that proved that Jonathan could mortgage anything and could even sponsor terror to win. Selecting a most despised PED was an in your face move. The only people who would still vote such a candidate were Nigerians who did not fear God and had decided to auction their morality.
Who could stand beside and behind an FFK? Who wanted an FFK country? FFK was the epitome of immorality, consciencelessness, disloyalty, money servitude, PEDism and all the rottenness that plagued Nigeria. FFK was known for hard drug dependence, tribalism, rants against Igbos, male chauvinism and women degradation, lewdness, promiscuousness, lickspittling, and all other vices known to man.
In a sense FFK was Jonathan as Jonathan was FFK. This is what Nigerians came to realize. FFK was Jonathan’s alter ego personified. No normal person would deploy an FFK. FFK was speaking Jonathan’s mind and demonstrating Jonathan’s soul beyond the physical realm. Nigerians saw it this way Indeed while the billions-to-spare Jonathan could have chosen and hired a “good” human being and paid him to do the spokesman work, Jonathan rather decided to choose FFK. Perhaps this was the most honest decision Jonathan ever made and the one “reverend” Kukah should tell Nigerians to appreciate him for.
Jonathan had made a statement: “I do not care about my reputation, I do not care about truth, I do not care about corruption, I do not care about you; right now all I want is the most rabid bulldog I can get to bark the most libelous and slanderous messages against the candidate I wish to defeat. I plan to keep you engaged and distracted with this vocal terrorist while I apply financial, Pulpit and other extreme mechanisms to try to buy and canvass the support I need in my catchment areas.”
It didn’t work. Despite aggressively deploying “Open the gates of hell and spill the blood” Pastor Oyedepo, one of the world’s largest pastors to further the Henry Okah publicized Jonathan utility of Boko Haram as a means of tarnishing the north/northern politicians, and the use of CAN president Ayo Oritsejafor while FFK kept keeping Nigerians distracted; and despite the Dangote and other cabal’s donation of billions at the end of 2014, and the opening of the nation’s treasury to fund the most expensive political campaign in world history, Jonathan lost with true numbers so large, if inflation due to rigging was corrected, perhaps Buhari doubled or tripled his total scores. And the one person that made this loss so grave was Femi Fani-Kayode, aka, Femi Olu Kayode.
Nigeria must thank Jonathan and thank FFK.
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Dr. Peregrino Brimah; http://ENDS.ng [Every Nigerian Do Something] Email: drbrimah@ends.ng Twitter: @EveryNigerian
President Obama delivered remarks in celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month at the Adas Israel Congregation in Washington in May.
WASHINGTON — President Obama appealed to a divided and troubled Jewish community on Friday, defending his nuclear accord with Iran as in the security interest of both the United States and Israel, and calling for a more civil debate with a congressional vote just weeks away.
In an Internet broadcast from the White House, Mr. Obama took questions from the largest Jewish umbrella organizations. He pledged that the vitriol surrounding the Iran debate would pass quickly as the United States, Israel and allies in the Middle East move toward confronting Iranian aggression beyond its nuclear ambitions.
“A president 15 years from now will not be in a worse position to respond” if Iran tries to quickly obtain a nuclear weapon after much of the accord expires, Mr. Obama said. “He will be in a better position, or she will be in a better position to respond.”
The interview, conducted by Stephen Greenberg, the chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, and Michael Siegal, the chairman of the Jewish Federations of North America, came at a sensitive time for the president.
While Republicans and conservative organizations are nearly unanimous in their opposition to the Iran accord, Jewish groups that traditionally lean Democratic are divided. In September, when Congress takes up resolutions to scuttle the nuclear deal, Mr. Obama will need Democrats to unite, either to filibuster the resolution in the Senate or to sustain his promised veto.
But nowhere has the nuclear accord been more divisive than among American Jews.
Mr. Obama acknowledged the political support that most Jews have given him, saying, “I wouldn’t be sitting here if it weren’t for my friends and supporters in the Jewish community.” But he pushed back against the notion that both sides in the Iran debate have been guilty of the same ugly vitriol.
Some Jewish opponents of the deal in Congress have been accused by the left of “dual loyalties” and a lack of patriotism, but Mr. Obama singled out the treatment of supporters of the accord, such as Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York and a yeshiva-trained observant Jew, who has been castigated and denounced by other Jews.
“We’re all pro-Israel, and we’re all family, and Jewish members in Congress that are supporting this deal, I don’t need to give you their biographies,” Mr. Obama said.
The president promised that the fierce opposition to the accord from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and his allies in the United States would do nothing to impede American-Israeli cooperation in countering Iran’s support for terrorism and its efforts to destabilize the Middle East.
Mr. Obama expressed sympathy for American and Israeli Jews who are worried about Iran’s continuing anti-Semitic statements, Holocaust denial and vows to wipe out Israel. Asked about mockery of him by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the president replied: “The United States is the most powerful nation in the world, and the president of the United States doesn’t respond to taunts. The president of the United States responds to interests.”
After the interview, Mr. Greenberg continued to voice skepticism that the accord offers Washington the flexibility it needs to respond to Iranian aggression short of flagrant violations of nuclear restrictions. Rockets being fired across Israel’s usually quiet northern border have “Iran’s fingerprints all over them,” he said.
But as Mr. Obama pursues diplomatic solutions to Iran’s nuclear efforts, he has shown little inclination to respond to other acts of aggression.
The president probably helped his cause with his pledges of a bipartisan commitment to Israeli security. But, Mr. Siegal said, the rhetorical wounds inflicted in the Iran debate in recent weeks may not heal as quickly as Mr. Obama suggested.
“Nobody forgets,” Mr. Siegal said after the interview. “Every scar hurts, but there is forgiveness in every family.”
The Position of SGF has finally been ceded to the North East by President Muhammadu Buhari, after months of gang-up by Igbo politicians within PDP and APC against each other.
Igbo Mandate Congress (IMC), in a warning to Igbo leaders and the public, released through a well publicized press statement, gave hints that Buhari will cede the position to another zone if our house is not put in order. The principal blackmail target was Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, followed by Dr Chris Ngige
The leaderships of Igbo Mandate Congress even had audience with some of those mentioned in the said press release and warned of the intelligence reports that another zone might pick up the coveted position if the current blackmail continues. Now it has happened as forewarned, Engr David Lawal from Adamawa, North East Nigeria has been appointed Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
Those Igbo leaders in PDP and APC who sold each other before President Buhari should better keep their dirty mouth shut at this time before IMC exposes how their selfishness caused the Igbo the position of SGF.
Had President Buhari intimated a week before the appointment that Mr Kachikwu of Igbo extraction will be the GMD of NNPC, these political riff rats would have given 20 reasons why he is not as fit as their preferred choice for the top post, leading to the later being blacklisted.
For record purposes, Igbo Mandate Congress do hereby represent a copy of its press release of June 16th over the controversial issue of SGF.
Press Release:
SGF: Buhari and the PDP Gang-up Against Ogbonnaya Onu-IMC Raises Alarm
It is with deep sense of regret that the leadership of Igbo Mandate Congress (IMC) received reports of massive gang-up against Chief Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, President Buhari’s preferred choice for the position of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) by some elements within APC and opposition PDP. Igbo Mandate Congress have followed the relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari and the leaders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the South East notable among whom is Chief Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, Senator Chris Ngige and Chief Rochas Okorocha, and we have it on good records that the incumbent President has respect for the trio.
The level of mudslinging, blackmail and campaign of calumny and gang-up against Chief Ogbonnaya Onu of recent has attracted the attention of IMC. Information reaching us has outlined those campaigning against Ogbonnaya Onu’s candidacy for the post of SGF as including;
1. Chief Rochas Okorocha, Governor of Imo State who prefers his in-law, and former Imo State SSG, Prof Anthony Anwuka for the position
2. Chief Dave Umahi, Governor of Ebonyi State who believes that an Ogbonnaya Onu as SGF from Ebonyi State will dwindle the political fortunes of the PDP in the next dispensation
3. Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Nigeria’s immediate past SGF who was not able to make even his principal, Goodluck Jonathan execute any tangible project in the South East for the four years he was in office, the 2nd Niger Bridge and Enugu International Airport being ‘419’ on the Igbo Nation. This man believes that Onu’s influence will whittle down his own influence in the State
4. Chief Ike Ekweremadu, Deputy Senate President, who is being pressurized to join the blackmail Ogbonnaya Onu campaign, so as to maintain the supremacy of the PDP in the Enugu-Ebonyi State axis
5. Chief Rotimi Amaechi, who is cashing in on the division within the South East, to position himself for the plum appointment Igbo Mandate Congress wishes to note that these men have contributed in one way or the other to move Nigeria forward.
1. Chief Rochas Okorocha had the foresight to drag a faction of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) into the Buhari-Tinubu alliance
2. Chief Dave Umahi, despite all odds, have proved from the Ebonyi State example, that a victimized Deputy Governor can defeat the candidate of a sitting governor, and emerge as a State Chief Executive-a feat not lost on lovers of democracy
3. Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, who through the act of God, benefitted from our protests after the 2011 elections, that Igbo be made Senate President which ex-President Jonathan compensated with an SGF slot
4. Chief Ike Ekweremadu, who through another act of God, secured a slot for the Igbo race in the 5th National Assembly, despite being in the opposition PDP
5. Chief Rotimi Amaechi, who refused Presidential impunity in Rivers State and set stage for a Southern platform of ‘Change’. Igbo Mandate Congress believes that Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, a former National Chairman of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), and a consistent member of the opposition since 1999 is ably qualified for the position. This Ebonyi State born former governor was part of those who helped form a coalition that led to the formation of the APC. He also helped some Igbos in the north to remain and cast votes for the opposition.
Igbo Mandate Congress believes that anybody can pursue his political ambition of being the SGF, and believes that Senator Chris Ngige and Prof Anthony Anwuka and indeed others are not inferior choices but ganging up against a particular person and putting undue pressures on the person of President Muhammadu Buhari to jettison his preferred choice, using instruments of blackmail, is not in the best interest of the Igbo race.
Igbo Mandate Congress is known worldwide as a stakeholder in the ‘Change’ being celebrated in Nigeria today, and participated in ensuring that Igbos in the North rejected some directives form Ohanaeze and compromised Igbo Leaders to vote for the expired “Transformational Agenda” in concert with Ohanaeze Ndigbo in the 19 Northern States and as such has the moral right to call erring leaders to order.
Igbos in the APC should pursue their ambitions without pulling down others. They should promote their preferred candidate without rubbishing the efforts of others. Let this mudslinging politics stop for once.
We have reliable information that President Buhari is wearied of all these recurring Igbo antics and may cede the position to another zone if the pressure becomes overbearing.
That was the nonsense that made Igbo produces five Senate Presidents in eight years while another zone (North Central) produced one senate President in eight years. Those misguided Igbo leaders must carefully avoid a situation whereby President Muhammadu Buhari wearied by scandalous lobbying cedes the coveted SGF position to another zone.
In the event that President Buhari cedes this position to another zone, and cries of marginalization starts, IMC will reveal all the details of the self-inflicted calamities and hold the players responsible. They must not gang up with the PDP to pull down Chief Ogbonnaya Onu before Buhari to become SGF or anything they wish.
