March 9, 2012 (BENTIU) – Men dressed in South Sudanese police uniforms shot dead four students in their homes in Bentiu, capital of Unity State on 7 March, eyewitnesses have told Sudan Tribune.
On Friday Unity State’s minister of information, Gideon Gatpan Thaor, told Sudan Tribune that the suspect – a drunk policeman – was arrested on Thursday by South Sudan security forces.
The Unity State government has apologised to the families of the dead students. According to government officials one of the boys had completed a university degree, while the three others were due to take their secondary level exams this month.
Thaor said that Unity State’s security advisor has made a serious apology to the family of the deceased for the delay in capturing the culprit.
The funerals for the students at Bentiu cemetery, held on Thursday, was attended by representatives of the Unity State government as well as the families. Unity State’s minister of information, said that the death of the four students was a great loss to the government not just the families of those killed.
Speaking on Bentiu FM – the state radio station – on Thursday, before the policeman was arrested, Thaor called for calm while his government hunted for the culprit. The minister urged people to work with government to investigate the shooting. The “government need[s] everybody to live in peace rather than chaos”, he said.
Gun crime is not a new issue in Bentiu. In December last year a trader from Rubkotna, James Mabor Malual, was shot on the hand by an unknown gunman, while switching off his generator in the town centre. Authorities failed to find the person responsible for the shooting.
Unity State civilians accuse the state government and police of failing to protect the citizens from crime. South Sudan is awash with small arms as a consequence of decades of civil war and the failure of various disarmament campaigns since a peace deal in 2005 granted the region self-rule.
In July last year South Sudan seceded from Sudan but still has to resolve a host of internal security issues. Cattle raiding, banditry, and child abductions are an ongoing problem in many poor rural areas, where livelihood structures still rely heavily on cows and owning a fire arm.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos yesterday recorded the arrest of two suspected drug traffickers and recovered 800 grammes of substances found to be methamphetamine. One of the traffickers concealed 550 grammes in the sole of his shoes while the other hid 250 grammes in his pants. The two arrests were made on Qatar and Emirate flights that were boarding simultaneously at screening area 1 and 2 of the International Airport. Both suspects whose final destination was Malaysia are being interrogated in connection with the alleged crime.
ariba owen ifeanyi
NDLEA Airport Commander, Mr. Hamza Umar explained that the suspects were apprehended simultaneously at central screening area 1 and 2. “The names of the suspects are Eya Prince Greg, 41 years old that hid 550 grammes of methamphetamine in his shoes was to board a Qatar Airline flight while Ariba Owen Ifeanyi, 27 years old that hid 250 grammes of methamphetamine in his under wear was to board an Emirate flight. They have given us useful information for our investigation” Hamza stated.
The suspects according to Ahmadu Giade, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA would have brought shame to the country if they had succeeded in their bid to export the drugs. He reiterated the Agency’s effort in discouraging people from drug trafficking through enlightenment and collaboration. According to Giade, “we must go back to our roots and uphold our rich cultural values. Drug trafficking is criminal and shameful. It is more worrisome that drug traffickers smuggle narcotics to countries like Malaysia where drug trafficking is punishable by death”.
the shoe containing 550 grammes methamphetamine
Giade added that the unbridled love for materialism is the reason people engage in drug trafficking. “Some of the arrested suspects are not poor but driven by greed. Investigation revealed that Mr. Eya Prince Greg sponsored his trip and had 3,000 dollars on his own. Why must he engage in drug trafficking if not greed?” the NDLEA boss stressed.
Eya Prince is an importer of auto parts. He is married with 5 children and lives at Igando area of Lagos. The suspect hails from Enugu-Ezike in Enugu State. He reportedly told investigators that he wanted more money for his importation business. “I am an importer of auto parts. I need more money for importation business that is the reason I decided to smuggle drugs. They told me that the drug was inside a shoe and that I should wear it and the drugs will not be detected. My personal money is 3,000 dollars and the promise to pay me 3,000 dollars if I succeed in taking the drug to Malaysia” Eya stated.
The second suspect, Ariba Owen Ifeanyi claims to be a student studying English and Tourism at World Point Academy, Malaysia. According to him, he agreed to smuggle drugs so as to pay for his tuition and other bills. He hails from Ude-Uche in Imo State.
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has received with utmost sadness the tragic news of the death of senior police officers in a helicopter crash today in Jos, Plateau State.
The President described the accident as unfortunate and a temporary setback especially at this time that all security forces are making concerted efforts to guarantee security throughout the country.
President Jonathan commiserated with the families of the bereaved and the Police High Command, urging them to take consolation in the fact that these fine officers died in the course of national assignment.
The President prayed that Almighty God will accept the souls of the deceased and grant the nation the fortitude to bear this national loss .
Reuben Abati
Special Adviser (Media & Publicity) to the President.
March 14, 2012
Imo State government has concluded plans to launch a tripod programme designed to provide free education at all levels, free health-care for
Imolites and ensure that no strike action takes place again in the
state.
Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha who spoke in government house, Owerri,
disclosed that the programme will symbolize a renewed commitment by
stakeholders in both education and health sectors to drive the vision
of his administration towards repositioning some critical sectors for
efficiency and optimal productivity after government approval to pay
new salary structure and other outstanding entitlements.
He stated that though he declared free and compulsory education in
primary and secondary schools shortly on assumption of office, he also
considered it necessary to extend the gesture to undergraduates of the
state origin schooling in the state government owned university and
polytechnic.
The governor explained that students in Imo State University will
receive an annual bursary of One Hundred Thousand Naira (N100, 000)
while their counterparts in Imo State Polytechnic will be entitled to
Sixty Thousand Naira (N60, 000) for National Diploma (ND) and Eighty
Thousand Naira (N80,000) for Higher National Diploma (HND).
Gov. Okorocha added that traditional rulers who also superintend the
fourth-tier government otherwise known as Community Government Council
in the state will assume the responsibility of screening and
thereafter submit lists of beneficiaries in their various communities
for payment to checkmate sharp practices.
He further explained that the sum of Thirty Thousand Naira (N30, 000)
from the amount will be given as loan from the state government while
the accumulated sum will be paid back to the communities by the
beneficiaries as soon as they secure employment.
“This policy under Imo Rescue Mission is intended to guarantee the
sustainability of free education at all levels. Don’t forget that
some99 people said free education even to secondary level was
impossible, but today we have free education in Imo state which has
been extended to tertiary level. We will continue to accord priority
to education considering the fact that education remains the biggest
industry in our state” Gov. Okorocha said.
Gov. Okorocha also stated that the second-leg of the programme is
designed to guarantee a sustainable free health-care for Imolites
under a social security scheme that will enable beneficiaries’ access
free health-care in both private and government-owned hospitals with
the state government contributing substantially to the scheme.
The governor said “Under this unique arrangement, the state government
will introduce a decentralized frame-work that will transfer
management of government owned hospitals to specialists/doctors and
provide all the necessary frame-work that will guarantee
self-sustainability in the health sector. This will ultimately address
the challenges that have eroded efficiency in the health system in Imo
state”.
He expressed the innovation represents a practical demonstration of
his administration’s commitment to restructure government owned health
institutions and further reposition them for efficiency and maximum
productivity in health-care delivery which will translate to the
actualization of the health-for-all policy of Imo Rescue Mission
Agenda.
Gov. Okorocha also explained that the agreement with the
representative of the workers is aimed at bringing to an end strike
action in government institutions, guarantee an equal commitment in
the implementation of the programme and ensure stability in the
system.
He however enjoined workers and the good people of the state to show
maximum cooperation to his administration in the process of
transforming the state through theses well-thought policies and
programmes that will uplift Imo and place it far above other states in
the country in the areas development and good governance.
To start with, let us agree to some conditions that must precede and guide the convocation of the Sovereign National Conference (SNC) in Nigeria. Most Nigerians have agreed that given the sectional agitations and demands from the West, North, East and South, the peoples of Nigeria need to discuss and arrive at the bases for living together in one country. That discussion should be called the SNC. The word “sovereign” means that the conference has only one no-go-area of discussion: Nigeria should continue to be one country. Therefore, it includes the fact that the SNC is free to discuss all areas of concern about how to live together as Nigerians in one country. The word also refers to the propriety of freedom to the peoples of Nigeria who had existed before the creation of Nigeria in 1914 to discuss the challenges that make the union unworkable. It is not about the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria or any legal technicality arising from that word.
The issues to be discussed are basic in nature. They include how ethnic Nigerians can respect and trust other ethnic groups no matter how small they are. How do we live together in one country given our differences? They must discuss how best to restructure Nigeria into ethnic states and allow self determination and development rights to the ethnic peoples of Nigeria who actually own the items of development: environment, resources, traditional occupations and human talents. They should discuss fiscal federalism such that each ethnic state should depend on its resources for survival and contribute 5% of its annual budget to the federation account that will enable a small and effective federal government perform supervisory and regulatory functions as well as be responsible for foreign relations, security of the country and monetary/currency services. If an ethnic group is too large for just a state, it can form itself into a region of many states.
Before the SNC holds, Nigerians should be asked in a plebiscite, to vote for or against the conference. To make it easy, the word “sovereign” could be removed so that ambiguity will be reduced. So it could be called Nigerian Peoples Conference (NPC) to still operate in the same manner like a SNC. Before the voting, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the Federal Ministry of Information should have sufficiently enlightened Nigerians on the reasons for the plebiscite. If majority of Nigerians agree that the discussion should hold, then the Federal Government should simply constitute a joint committee made up of the National Population Commission, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the federal ministries of Information, Environment and Culture to list the number of ethnic groups in the country. This list should be made public for corrections and approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
The same committee as indicated above should organize the conference with supports from the military and other civil defense/security organizations excluding the Nigerian police. The conference should last for nine months, while a constitution drafting committee should draft the constitution and submit to the FEC within the next three months. Thereafter and in the next three months, government should make the constitution available to the general public for further inputs, corrections and amendments. Once this is well concluded, the FEC should gazette the constitution as the 2014 Constitution of the Peoples of Nigeria. That constitution is the peoples’ constitution and should not be subjected to any debate or discussion in the federal, state or local legislature. Thus Nigeria would have been able to produce her own authentic constitution in her 100th year of existence.
The federal government should provide the venue for the conference, which should be the national assembly (NASS) complex in Abuja. During the period of the conference, the members of the NASS as presently constituted shall proceed on a fifteen-month leave to be reconvened after the conference when the President would have signed the constitution into law. Before they go on the said leave, they would have passed the bill for the convocation of the conference. That bill should be able to accommodate the activities of the Federal Executive during their leave and that the NASS must do nothing to frustrate the process to the conference or impeach Mr President. Also, during their leave, they should earn half of their gross salaries.
The ethnic groups should nominate, send and fully fund three delegates to the conference. The federal government should have no hand in funding the delegates. Every ethnic group should be recognized no matter how many they are.
During the conference, foreign observers from the UN, AU, ECOWAS and other international organizations and groups should be allowed to attend.
At the end, Nigeria would have succeeded in organizing this all-important conference where the peoples of Nigeria met and gave themselves a constitution to be implemented by the politicians they had earlier elected into the executive and legislative arms of government. The federal government (that is the executive and the legislature) shall remain in office till May 29th 2015. Thereafter, a new set of government will be elected based on the new constitution. This should also be applicable at the state and local government levels. All other rearrangements in accordance with the new constitution shall commence from May 29th 2015.
For this process to succeed, it shall be as simple as it appears. Nigerians have been agitating and killing themselves due to lack of understanding of how we can live together as one country. We do not need too much of big technical legal grammar that will end up frustrating this opportunity. We need to be prayerful, confident and very sincere that the outcome of the conference shall have resolved these age-long inter-ethnic and/or religious hatred and killings. In this process, we must agree to love and respect one another as peoples of equal status and rights to be part of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The government must be sincere in organizing this conference; otherwise Nigeria may experience an implosion of unthinkable dimension. The key to succeeding is total sincerity and tolerance of the views of others.
If Nigeria succeeds in this effort, the ghosts of 1914, January 15, 1966, Biafra, minority agitations, operation “weti”, Kaima Declaration, Tiv uprising, Zangon-Kataf, MOSOP, June 12, 1993 election, Umuechem, Choba, Odi, Ikwerre Rescue Charter, MEND, Bakassi, OPC, Jos, Ife-Modakeke, Aguleri-Amuleri, Gani Fawehimi, Anthony Enahoro, and Boko Haram would have been appeased to rest in peace. This is the path to a true unity in diversity in Nigeria.
Information reaching 247ureports.com indicate that a police helicopter may have been shotdown in Jos – as it flew from Abuja to Jos.
According to the information gathered, the helicopter was carrying the new DIG of Operations, John Haruna to Jos on an official duty relating to the suspected Boko Haram activity in the Jos metropolitan area.
DIG John Haruna was just promoted to the rank of DIG only 2 weeks ago.
The status of John Haruna is not know at the moment. The status of other occupants of the helicopter are not known.
The police headquarters in Abuja, when contacted did not respond officially -but a source confirmed the incident but noted that it was called a crash. He stated that it is unlikely that the copter was shotdown. But eyewitnesses indicated otherwise.
The sprawling Parchin military site, located 20 miles east of Tehran, “is conducting normal military activities,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters in a regular briefing.
“Declarations about the cleaning up of nuclear traces from this site – and those who are technically savvy know you cannot remove traces of such activity from an area – these declarations are propaganda,” he said.
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Yukiya Amano, said early last week that satellite images suggested there were unspecified “ongoing” activities at the Parchin base. Western diplomats said they suspected Iran was removing evidence from the site.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has focused suspicions on Parchin since receiving intelligence, outlined in a November report, that Iran may have been testing normal explosives in a big metal cylinder there with the aim of researching implosion triggers for an eventual nuclear bomb.
Iran has twice this year refused requests by a visiting IAEA team to inspect Parchin.
Although the IAEA inspected parts of Parchin two times in 2005, it says it did not see the area alleged to contain the explosives test cylinder.
Mehmanparast highlighted those 2005 visits and said Iran had accepted the “principle” of another visit, but that the IAEA should have been “more patient” in reaching agreement on the framework of such an inspection.
Parchin will be one of the key issues in a new round of talks being prepared between Iran and world powers likely to take place in coming weeks.
Last week, the group of nations to sit down with Iran – the so-called P5+1 comprising the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – issued a statement urging Iran to “fulfil its undertaking to grant access to Parchin.”
The talks will revive negotiations that broke down in Istanbul in January 2011.
Iran, under pressure from sanctions and the threat of military strikes on its nuclear facilities, agreed on February 14 to a P5+1 proposal to resume the discussions and has indicated it again favoured Istanbul as the venue.
Mehmanparast, though, said “several countries have declared themselves ready” to host the talks, which he said should begin “soon”.
He added that Iran stood by its view that uranium enrichment – one of the most contentious activities to be addressed – was permitted under the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty supervised by the IAEA, as long as it was destined for peaceful nuclear use.
“The level of enrichment for peaceful activities is a technical question, and experts can determine what level of enrichment is within a peaceful framework,” he said.
Iran is currently enriching uranium to 3.5 per cent, needed for nuclear energy generation, and to 20 per cent, for isotopes to treat cancer patients. Uranium needs to be enriched to 90 per cent or higher to make an atom bomb.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last weekend warned that the West should drop its “bullying” stance against his country.
“As God is my witness, the Iranian nation will not give a damn for (your) bombs, warships and planes,” he said in a televised speech on Sunday in the city of Karaj west of Tehran.
The United States and its EU allies “should talk politely, and recognise the rights of (other) nations, and co-operate instead of showing teeth, and weapons and bombs,” he said.
Iran has repeatedly insisted its nuclear programme is purely for civilian purposes and has no military component.
The supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called nuclear weapons a “sin”.
Khamenei also praised US President Barack Obama’s recent comments cautioning against “bluster” in talking about possible war with Iran – although he also called US determination to press on with sanctions an “illusion”.
There was a mild drama at the premises of the Federal High Court in the Maitama District of Abuja Tuesday as a middle-aged man, simply identified as Musa Suleiman, climbed to the top of a telecom mast and threatened to commit suicide.
After climbing to the top of the mast, Mr. Suleiman, eyewitnesses said, began shouting that he would jump down and take his own life unless former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, came personally to beg him to come down.
The witnesses said that was after shouting himself hoarse that he had a case at the Federal High Court which suffered several adjournments, and that he would “end it all” by committing suicide.
Officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) rushed to the scene immediately and started negotiating with the man, who at a point claimed former Vice President Abubakar owed him N15 million.
NEMA officials thereafter made emergency arrangements by placing some mattresses around the foot of the mast before climbing up to rescue him and at the same time pleading with him to come down.
Not wanting to take chances, NEMA also evacuated nearby buildings asking staff to come out into the open even as people began to scamper for safety thinking the man was a suicide bomber.
After about 30 minutes of dramatic exchanges, the man was eventually brought down and handed over to the police who took him away for questioning.
But in a swift reaction, Mr. Abubakar said he does owe no one and that Mr. Suleiman might be unstable. “We honestly suspect that this man is mental,” the former vice president said through his media consultant, Garba Shehu. “If there is one Nigerian who pays all his bills, that person is Atiku Abubakar.
“If the idea of this pole-climber is to get N2m from the Turaki, this certainly is not the best way to go about it. Were it left to me, I will say that the man should simply be ignored. He will climb down when he gets tired of staying up.”
A Chinese woman, Liang Zuli who was recently arrested and detained on two count charge of attempting to smuggle banned animal parts out of Nigeria is to remain in prison custody.
When the case came up for hearing today at the Federal High Court, Lagos, Justice Okechukwu Okeke ordered that Liang Zuli be remanded in custody pending argument on her application for bail on March 19, 2012.
Prosecuting Counsel for the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Barrister Bola Odugbesan, who is also the Legal Adviser for the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, NESREA is vehemently insisting that the accused woman should not be granted bail because of the severity of the offence.
The Chinese woman was penultimate week arrested by Officers of the Nigerian Customs Service at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport while attempting to smuggle polished ivory and other prohibited products despite the new regulations put in place by the National Environmental Standards and Regualtions Enforcement Agency (NESREA).
Section 7 (i) of the National Environmental (Protection of Endangered Species in International Trade) Regulation 2011, stipulates punishment for such violations.
The accused had pleaded not guilty to the offences and has been remanded at the Kirikiri Prisons by Justice Okechukwu Okeke.
Information available to 247ureports.com indicate that the temporary calm in Jos has shattered as students protest the stabbing of their colleagues. Reports from Jos, the Plateau State capital, indicate that students from the University of Jos have hit the streets protesting the stabbing of two of their colleagues. Chanting anti-government slogans, the students have blocked the highways leading to Bauchi and traffic along that route is on a standstill. Eye witnesses say the students are suspecting some Hausa men staying close to the Naraguta hostel of the university for the stabbing of their colleagues.
The security forces in Jos are reported to be apprehensive in approaching the protesting the youths/students. This is as the protest appears turning into a riot. Some injuries have been recorded.
