A detachment of armed policemen and bailiffs of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Friday evening, took possession of and sealed off a high rise building on 43A, Afribank Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, owned by businessman-lawyer, Wale Babalakin.

Their action, according to a statement from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), was in execution of interim orders granted by Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke against  Roygate Properties Limited, believed to be owned by Babalakin.

The orders were sequel to an ex parte application filed by the AMCON, in a suit marked: FHC/L/CS/1501/2012.

Copies of the orders made on February 5 were conspicuously pasted on the gates of the house.

Justice Aneke granted AMCON “interim possession of the property at 43A, Afribank Street, pursuant to a tripartite legal mortgage registered on October 14, 2010 between Roygate (the borrower) , Stabilini Visioni Limited (surety/mortgagor) and Guaranty Trust Bank (the lender.)”

> The court also granted AMCON similar possession over properties at Plots 270 and 273, Trans Amadi Layout, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The court restrained Roygate, its directors, subsidiaries and sister companies from transferring or dealing with any of its funds in 20 banks listed in the application, or anywhere else up to the N13.5 billion allegedly owed by the company.

Justice Aneke also restrained the banks from allowing Roygate to “operate any bank accounts” held by it in the banks.

The judge further ordered the Nigeria Police to assist in the enforcement of the orders, which he held, should subsist pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Few months ago, similar order was given to AMCON to take possession of some properties and assets owned by one of its debtors, Tonique Oil Services Limited.

The corporation executed the said orders on Tonique Oil’s premises in Ikoyi and Gbagada, Lagos State, with the assistance of law enforcement agents, lawyers and court bailiffs.

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Source: Tribune

GAO, Mali –   A suicide bomber wearing military fatigues blew himself up near a  checkpoint at the entrance to northern Mali’s largest city, wounding one soldier  in the second attack to hit the same location since Friday, residents and  officials said Sunday.

A column of French tanks stood guard along the sandy road  leading to the scene, as French and Malian soldiers patrolled the surrounding  residential neighborhood of mud-walled homes.

The attack took place late Saturday at about 11 p.m.,  according to Malian Capt. Daouda Diarra. On Sunday morning, the bomber’s torso  lay in the scorching sun in the middle of the road, while his head sat in a pile  of sand in a nearby wheelbarrow.

“When he leaped over the wall, we fired at him,” Diarra  said of the suicide bomber. “He then detonated his explosive belt.”

Cpl. Mamadou Abdoulaye Maiga said other weapons were left  behind at the scene, and French forces detonated three grenades Sunday  morning.

It was the exact location where an earlier suicide bomber riding a motorcycle had blown himself up Friday morning, an attack that raised fears the militants ousted from Gao by French and Malian forces could now be launching a new wave of violence.

The Malian military gave no details about the bomber in  Saturday’s attack, stating only that the young man was Arab and a suspected  member of MUJAO — the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa.

The group seized control of Gao in April 2012 and had ruled  the city until the arrival of French and Malian forces in late January. Military  officials have said that residual elements of the group remain in the Gao area,  and other fighters are hiding in the surrounding desert.

Friday’s suicide bomber had been living at a known jihadist  hideout in Gao, according to local residents. A guard at the home said that it  had been visited three months ago by the one-eyed terror leader Moktar  Belmoktar, who claimed responsibility for the attack on the BP-operated natural  gas plant in Algeria.

Other jihadist leaders from MUJAO also had stayed in the  luxurious two-story home with a verdant courtyard, which the militants took over  when they captured Gao last year, the guard said.

Fears of suicide bombing attacks in Gao have been high  since the discovery of industrial-strength explosives in the city last week.  Four Malian soldiers also were killed by a land mine in the town of Gossi,  raising fears the militants were planting explosives in the road.

On Sunday, crowds of nearby residents gathered under the  shade of a few trees by the site of the suicide bombing attack. It was the  second time in as many days that their homes had been shaken by blasts from  suicide bombers.

“I am really afraid. You hear about these kinds of things  in Pakistan or Afghanistan. Gao is becoming like Pakistan,” said Maouloud Dicko,  30, as he sat on his motorcycle.

Malian soldiers are fighting jihadists in their desert  hideouts just outside Gao, the country’s defense minister said Saturday.

Defense Minister Yamoussa Camara said that at least two  militants were killed during the fighting that took place Friday several miles  (kilometers) outside northern Mali’s largest town.

“We call on the population of Gao not to give in to panic  and above all to cooperate with defense and security forces to drive out the  terrorists who are trying to infiltrate among civilians,” Camara said by  telephone from Bamako, the capital.

Radical jihadists seized control of the major towns across  northern Mali in April last year following a military coup in the distant  capital, and a planned military intervention by West African neighbors  stalled.

France intervened in its former colony on Jan. 11 after the  militants began pushing south and seizing towns in central Mali, raising alarm  that they were inching closer toward the capital.

While the French and Malian forces were able to retake the  towns in central Mali, as well as Timbuktu and Gao, the latest suicide attacks  indicate the militants are far from defeated.

Read more:  http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/02/10/official-second-suicide-bomber-blows-himself-up-in-gao-northern-mali/#ixzz2KY0Pq7T0

President Goodluck Jonathan congratulates the Super Eagles and all Nigerians on the country’s inspiring victory in the AFCON 2013 finals this evening in Johannesburg.

President Jonathan thanks Coach Stephen Keshi and all members of the team who have worked very hard and played with great focus, dedication, artistry and patriotism to make Nigeria the proud champions of Africa once again after 19 years of setbacks in the competition.

The President also commends the Minister of Sports, Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi, the Chairman and members of the Nigerian Football Federation and all others who have contributed to the astonishing transformation of the Super Eagles from underdogs to gallant winners and glorious soccer champions of the African continent.

President Jonathan believes that the team’s amazing transformation from rank outsiders to champions is a clear manifestation of the even greater successes the country can achieve in all other fields of human endeavour if all Nigerians come together and devote their immense collective energies and resources to supporting the implementation of his Administration’s Agenda for National Transformation.

Therefore, as the entire nation celebrates Nigeria’s remarkable triumph in South Africa, President Jonathan urges all Nigerians to imbibe the positive lessons of the Super Eagles’ success because the fulfilment of the country’s immense potentials for greatness will be more speedily attained if more Nigerians resolve to emulate the team’s exemplary unity of purpose, dedication, commitment and devotion to service of the nation.

The President also believes that having conquered Africa, the new Super Eagles can go on to achieve even greater glory at the World Cup in Brazil next year. He assures the team that it will receive every necessary support and encouragement from the Federal Government for that next national assignment.

President Jonathan thanks the Government of South Africa and the Confederation of African Football for a well-organised tournament and looks forward to receiving the victorious Super Eagles in Abuja on Tuesday.

Nigeria ended a 19-year wait to regain the African Nations Cup after a stunning goal from winger Sunday Mba gave them a deserved 1-0 win over Burkina Faso in the final at Soccer City on Sunday.

The 24-year-old, who also scored the winner in the 2-1 quarterfinal win over Ivory Coast, struck after 40 minutes when the ball bounced off a defender and into his path as he advanced on goal.

Mba flicked it over defender Mohamed Koffi then reacted quickest to score with his other foot low into the corner of goalkeeper Daouda Diakite’s net for a contender for goal of the tournament.

Underdogs Burkina Faso, in the final for the first time, seemed over-awed by the occasion, which was played out in front of a near 90 000 capacity crowd, until the last 20 minutes when they threw everything forward in search of an equaliser.

But Nigeria with John Obi Mikel superb in midfield and Efe Ambrose, Kenneth Omeruo and Elderson Echiejile dominant at the back always held the upper hand.

The victory meant Nigerian coach Stephen Keshi became only the second man to win the tournament as player and coach. It was a third African title for Nigeria and their first since Keshi captained them to victory in 1994

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Source: SuperSport

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) National Vice-Chairman, Chief Segun Oni has congratulated the Super Eagles of Nigeria for their heroic and patriotic performance, which earned the country its third African Nations Cup trophy, saying; “this Super Eagles will rule the world.”

Oni, who reacted to the Super Eagles victory through his Chief Press Secretary, Lere Olayinka said the lesson to learn from the final outcome of the Nations Cup was that “Nigerians should never write off the country.”

“I am elated, I am happy, I am proud to be a Nigerian.

“This victory is particularly symbolic because we earned it with a team many Nigerians never believed in.

“Also, for the first time, we won the AFCON with a team tutored by a Nigerian, meaning that we can take our country to that enviable height that we all desire if we believe in ourselves.

“Once again, I congratulate Nigerians for this sweet victory and pray that it will re-awaken the patriotism in all of us,” Oni said.

When the 13-vehicle convoy of Malian rebels crashed through the Libyan frontier, armed with anti-aircraft guns and other heavy weapons, the Libyan border guards were soon overwhelmed.

They managed to arrest five of the insurgents, but dozens escaped and headed north into the lawless desert of southern Libya, where they quickly melted into the dusty terrain.

This account of a border clash late last week, reported by a Tuareg activist in southern Libya with sources at the remote border posts, is part of the growing evidence that the retreating Islamist radicals of northern Mali are now migrating across a vast region of the Sahara, taking advantage of porous borders and finding shelter in a widening swath of dysfunctional states.

France’s relentless campaign of air strikes and ground assaults in Mali has forced the Islamists to retreat northward into the desert. But the latest evidence of their new strongholds – from mountain caves in northern Mali to desert sanctuaries as far away as Libya and Sudan – suggests that the insurgents are regrouping in safe havens as they bide their time for a future counterattack when targets are softer.

It also suggests that the weak states of North Africa are becoming a valuable corridor for the Islamist fighters, allowing them to recuperate and rebuild in places French warplanes cannot reach.

Reports from Sudan suggest that the insurgents may have reached as far as Darfur, in western Sudan, after crossing the whole of southern Libya in recent days. They were spotted in Darfur by some of the Sudanese rebel groups that are active in the war-torn region.

The Arab Spring of 2011 has liberated Libya from a dictator’s rule, but it has also created a shambolic new government and a dangerous security vacuum, easily exploited by the jihadi groups. “They hide in Libya, mainly because of the absence of government,” said Hamed Fadel, a leader of the Tuareg ethnic group that traditionally lives in four countries across the Sahara region.

Mr. Fadel, who has extensive contacts in southern Libya, says the Islamist insurgents in northern Mali have benefited from a steady supply of Libyan weapons and volunteers since the fall of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011. “Weapons have spread – they are everywhere,” he said. “The Islamist groups mainly got their weapons from Libya.”

Photographs of abandoned or seized weapons in northern Mali and at an Algerian hostage-taking site have suggested that much of the rebel arsenal came originally from Mr. Gadhafi’s store of weapons. The weapons were smuggled southward or sold on the black market to the Islamists, giving them a significant advantage over the Malian army in the rebellion that began in early 2012.

To reach Libya, the retreating rebels from Mali would have had to traverse across northern Niger or southern Algeria. These are largely empty desert wastes, with few border controls and little security presence. But the region is criss-crossed with smuggling routes, controlled by the rebels themselves, which helped them escape to North Africa when the French military pressure became too heavy for them to tolerate in Mali.

Algeria, immediately to the north of Mali, may be already encountering the retreating rebels. Four heavily armed militants – including two Libyans – were reportedly arrested in recent days by the Algerian army near the Algerian borders with Mali and Libya.

Fearing a spillover from the Mali conflict, Libya recently announced that its southern borders would be closed and the southern region would become a sealed military zone.

But this has failed to prevent the rebels from entering Libya as they withdraw from Mali. Despite the government announcement, those who live in the south have seen no real strengthening of Libya’s borders, and no major reinforcement of the overstretched border guards. The guards, lacking good vehicles or observation posts, are unable to prevent the rebel move into southern Libya.

“We can’t do much about it,” said Kalmi Ramadan, head of a human-rights group in southern Libya. “We don’t have the ability to stop them. We don’t have the resources to control the borders. There’s no army or anything, no support and no equipment. Nobody is guarding the border, except the same people as before.”

Mr. Fadel agrees, noting that Libya’s southern borders are thousands of kilometres long. The attempt to seal off the south “doesn’t really make sense,” he said. “It’s not possible to close the border.”

A Development inclined NonGovernmental Organization- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA [HURIWA] has faulted the inauguration on Friday February 8th 2013 in London, the United Kingdom of the Olusegun Obasanjo foundation attended by President Goodluck Jonathan and other sub-regional leaders from the Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS] because according to the Rights Group the symbolism of launching the foundation in a foreign territory outside of Nigeria shows that the man who provided inspiration for the foundation who served Nigeria as both military and civilian head of state has no faith and trust on the integrity of Nigeria hosting such an epochal event which would have brought glory to Nigeria.

Besides, the group has also tasked President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint a substantive Defence Minister for Nigeria to end the long wait since the last occupant of that office was sacked over six months ago just as the Rights group said the absence of a substantive Defence minister in Nigeria at a time that Nigeria is facing violent terrorism attacks and targeted killings by armed Islamic extremists that even President Jonthan described as the greatest challenge to the territorial integrity as a sovereign nation is to put it mildly unacceptable and incredulous.

In a statement made available to the media and jointly endorsed by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media affairs Director Miss. Zainab Yusuf, the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS’ ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA said it was a shame of unprecedented dimension that the entire federal government of Nigeria led by President Jonathan vacated the seat of power in Abuja and headed for an entire weekend to the United Kingdom to embark on a meaningless jamboree of launching a foundation introduced by Nigeria’s two times Head of State and Head of Government Chief Olusegun Obasanjo even when controversy over the whereabouts of over $65 Billion said to have been left in Nigeria’s foreign reserves and the Excess Crude Account by the President Obasanjo’s administration in May 2007 is yet to be resolved to the satisfaction of the generality of Nigerians.

HURIWA stated also that former President Obasanjo who launched the foundation in the United Kingdom is yet to explain to Nigerians how his administration procured the several billions of public fund allegedly wasted in the pursuit of the botched third term agenda under his [OBASANJO] watch. “We in the civil society community think that for the former President to gain the respect of even the prospective beneficiaries of his foundation he has to answer basic questions of lack of transparency and accountability that characterized his government especially towards the tumultuous tail end of that government in 2007 when he allegedly sought to manipulate the constitutional amendment process to secure unlimited tenure of Presidential office which was scuttled at the National Assembly on the instigation of majority of Nigerians”.

HURIWA said; “We totally condemn former President Obasanjo for moving the venue of the inauguration of his foundation to the developed western nation of the United Kingdom which goes to show the total lack of faith and trust by the Nigerian elites on the integrity of hosting any global event on the African soil even when it is clear that most of them ruled Nigeria for years with nothing to show by way of development and the building of sustainable infrastructure. What is the essence of President Jonathan travelling to attend the launch of the Obasanjo’s foundation in London, the United Kingdom as if to tell the members of the global community that Nigeria is so unsafe that an event like the inauguration of the Obasanjo foundation can not take place in Nigeria? Who are the targeted beneficiaries of this obasanjo foundation? Are the beneficiaries in Britain or Africa.”

The Rights group also challenged President Jonathan to immediatelly appoint a substantive Defence minister who must be a thoroughbred professional and competent Nigerian to marshall out a workable anti-terrorism campaign to rid Nigeria of violent terrorists that have continued to unleash devastating bloodshed in parts of Nothern Nigeria including the killings of innocent health workers and worshippers.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West has called for the immediate resignation of the Speakers of Ekiti and Lagos States Houses of Assembly, Dr. Adewale Omirin and Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji respectively over alleged involvement in fraud and sex scandal.

In a release issued today and signed by its Zonal Publicity Secretary, Hon. Kayode Babade, the party said the duo of Omirin and Ikuforiji no longer have moral rights to continue to preside over the affairs of honourable men, saying; they must either tender their resignation letters or be impeached.

Dr. Omirin was allegedly involved in sexual escapades with a female member of the Ekiti State House of Assembly, Hon. Wunmi Ogunlola while Hon Ikuforiji and his Personal Assistant, Oyebode Alade Atoyobe, are facing trial for allegedly conspiring between April 2010 and July 2011 to collect money from the House of Assembly without going through financial institution and also making various cash payments in aggregate sum of N503 million from the House of Assembly without going through any financial institution.

Wunmi Ogunlola’s husband, Mr. Tunde Ogunlola had already petitioned the House of Assembly, accusing Dr Omirin of sleeping with his wife.

The PDP said it was worried that the moral sherrifs in the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) are still allowing both Omirin and Ikuforiji to preside over the Houses of Assembly in Ekiti and Lagos States, adding that; “In saner climes, both of them ought to have resigned.”

Babade said; “Last week, Hon Wunmi Ogunlola, who was involved in the alleged sex scandal with Dr Omirin was removed as the Ekiti State House of Assembly’s Chief Whip.

“Our question then is; where is justice that the ACN claims to represent in this situation where two people committed an act of immorality and only one of them, who is a woman is being made to pay for the sin?

“Funny enough, Mrs Bisi Fayemi, wife of the Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi is an advocate of women rights and this is happening right under her nose. Where then is the morality in the governor’s wife claim to women rights advocacy when only Wunmi Ogunlola was removed from her position while the Speaker with whom she allegedly committed the immoral act is left untouched?”

On the Lagos Speaker, the PDP said; “it is strange that the same ACN that was all over the place calling for the removal of someone that was only investigated by the anti-graft agency has not deemed it necessary to ask Adeyemi Ikuforiji, who is facing trial for N503 million to resign, close to two years after he was charged to court.

“This should tell Nigerians the party’s disposition and hypocrisy to fighting corruption and not until the Lagos Speaker is asked to resign by the ACN, no one should take the party serious on the issue of fighting corruption.”