Tsvangirai and Mugabe must get HIV tested

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Lawmakers Take Public HIV Tests in Awareness Campaign

President Robert Mugabe together with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and other senior government executives must get HIV tested, it was suggested Thursday as MPs began taking public HIV tests in a campaign seeking to raise awareness and fight the stigma associated with Aids.

At least 60 parliamentarians from across the political divide will have tested when the three-day program, which is also offering counseling services, ends Friday.

A number of male lawmakers will also be circumcised, a method clinically proven to reduce the risk of men contracting the Aids virus during sex.

Speaking to journalists outside a makeshift clinic near Parliament, House Speaker Lovemore Moyo challenged senior government officials, including President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to also go for voluntary public tests.

This, he said, would help the country deal with stigma that has long been associated with the pandemic in most communities, adding if the country’s leaders played an exemplary role, the fight against Aids could be easily won.

“I’m happy that MPs responded to the call, all what is left perhaps is to see our counter parts in the executive and judiciary also take a leaf from what we have done,” Moyo said.

The lawmakers, however, said it is their right to disclose their status after testing.

The Zimbabwe Parliamentarians Against HIV/Aids, a voluntary organization formed early this year to promote awareness and fight stigma in communities, is leading the campaign.

Group chairperson Blessing Chebundo, who was tested Thursday said more lawmakers are expected to join the program.

UK-based Zimbabwean gender activist Betty Makoni recently got tested and revealed her status on Facebook.

She told VOA lawmakers should reveal their results, adding holding back would perpetuate the stigma that surrounds the pandemic.

“We should not do things for window-dressing, so if you go for HIV and Aids and you don’t reveal your results, it means you are still stigmatizing yourself and also perpetuating the stigma,” said Makoni

Critics are questioning whether the drive will positively affect ordinary Zimbabweans.

For perspective VOA reporter Tatenda Gumbo spoke to Community Group Health Coordinator Itai Rusike and Masvingo Central lawmaker Jeffreyson Chitando, the first ZIPAH member to be tested.

Chitando said the program is geared to inform people that it is their right to know their status regardless of the result.

But Rusike questioned how the program would translate to the ordinary Zimbabweans, who may be unable to access testing centers and treatment.

“It is important that parliamentarians also make an effort to take this initiative to the people, to their constituencies so that these services are available within the villages,” said Rusike.

Former PPA Youth Leader Lashes Out At Tonye Princewill…Say He’s Not A Politician But Deceitful Businessman

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Mr.. Norisia Pepple - Former PPA Youth Leader

Former mobilizer/youth leader of Princewill Political Associates, PPA Mr. Norisia Pepple who recently resigned from PPA has lashed out furiously at the leader of the group and self acclaimed Prince of theNigerdelta, Prince Tonye Princewill describing him as a self seeking, greedy, deceitful business man milking politicians dry under the guise of a huge followership base.

Making this known through a resolution reached after an emergency meeting of the youth wing including the twenty (23) local government area youth coordinators of PPA, Pepple explained that having worked for Prince Tonye Princewil as youth leaders of Action Congress, (AC) from 2006 through when the party joined the unity government and later joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Princewill had nothing compared to what is attainable today.

He observed that inspite of the sudden changes in his fortunes largely brought about by the joint efforts of the youths who are always on hand to give him the needed support, Princewill has not been able to give the youths any job opportunity inspite of the variety of job opportunities he is benefiting from for joining forces with the unity government, etc. “We have suffered persistent deceit, hunger, constant frustration and lack of human face from Tonye Princewil leaving a gory picture of a man without conscience”, the resolution reads.

Pepple alleged that Chief eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the media consultant to the PPA leader was employed to deceive and lie to Rivers people, he revealed how Eze sent a text to them, describing their situation as monkey they work bamboo they chop. He said the G17 and G19 agenda for Osima Ginah, former Commissioner for urbam development was for his House of representative ambition that failed.

He alleged that Princewill’s excesses was instrumental to the polarity in the then Action Congress and was even in a bigger proportion responsible for the walk out of great and vibrant politicians within the rank of PPA.

Temple Joshua Ahoada East PPA Youth Coordinator, Deinma Tamunokuro Okrika PPA Youth Coordinator and Richard Ukaegbu Oyigbo Youth Coordinator among others were part of the emergency meeting held. As part of the resolutions, the youths have now formally resigned their membership of Princewill Political Associate (PPA), however they will still remain valid members of the |Peoples’ Democratic Party PDP.

They also resolved to henceforth stop supporting any of Prince Tonye Princewill’s political activities stressing that they see Tonye Princewil as a self seeking, greedy, deceitful business man rather than a politician. According to the statement “we are disassociating ourselves from him and advice PDP to tread carefully when dealing with him”.

Uganda to Ban Groups that It Claims Promote Homosexuality

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An announcement from the Ugandan government Wednesday stated that at least 38 nongovernmental agencies would be banned for allegedly promoting gay rights and recruiting children into homosexuality.

“We have investigated them thoroughly and we have found their sponsors,” said Simon Lokodo, the country’s Ethics Minister. “We will ask them to step aside and stop pretending to work in human rights.”

“Some NGOs, under the pretext of providing social services, are receiving funds to promote homosexuality,” he added.

These organizations, both domestic and international, will no longer be allowed to operate in Uganda after losing their registrations. The official list of these organizations has yet to be released.

“The sooner they are phased out, the better,” Lokodo said.

Homosexuality is highly taboo in Africa and in many countries is formally outlawed. Uganda’s parliament is reviewing legislation that could make punishments for gay citizens found within the country even harsher. The pending bill once included sentences as severe as life in prison or the death penalty, but were removed under extreme pressure from donor countries. Still, the bill has backing from a number of Ugandan politicians.

“We are resolutely opposed to the bill,” said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the day before Uganda’s announcement. “We think it’s inconsistent with Uganda’s international human rights obligations, and this just sets a bad, bad precedent in the neighborhood.”

The announcement follows a police raid earlier in the week that broke up a gay rights activists’ workshop in Kampala, the country’s capital. A number of involved organizations, including Amnesty international, blasted the raid as “illegal.” Though the involved activists were detained for several hours, they were all released without charge.

“This continued harassment and intimidation of human rights activists must stop and the police need to start adhering to the laws they are supposed to protect and enforce,” said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty’s deputy director for Africa.

Ugandan authorities have yet to comment on the incident.

Jonathan Drops Azazi

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After spending billions of Naira on National security and failed attempts to address security challenges, the President has opted to reshuffle the top of Nigeria’s security watch men. Information reaching 247ureports.com indicates that the President of the federal republic of Nigeria has dropped the National Security Adviser [NSA], Azazi. The President is said to have replaced the outgoing NSA with Col Sambo Sasuki [RTD]. Col Sambo Dasuki (Rtd) was ADC to former President Ibrahim Babangida. Dasuki is the son of former Sultan of Sokoto Ibrahim Dasuki.

The Federal Minister of Defense, Dr. Hsliru Bello Mohammed, as gathered, has been dropped also. No replacements has been named.

It is believed the inability to curtail the excess of the Islamic terrorist group, the boko haram led to the sacking of the Federal Minister of Defense and the NSA. As can be recalled, the sacked NSA had diagnosed the causative factors to the prevalence of Boko Haram as laying on the doorsteps of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] – of which the President reacted to state that he “does not understand” what the NSA meant by the statement.

Azazi had been a trusted ally of the President from his days as the deputy governor of Bayelsa State. Azazi has served as the chief security officer of the State during the time of servitude of the then deputy governor – and then governor of the state – in the person of Dr. Jonathan.

Stay tuned.

Pay Pensioners, ACN Tells Amaechi

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Press Statement

Pay Pensioners, ACN Tells Amaechi

The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Rivers State chapter has urged the Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi to pay
Pensioners all their outstanding entitlements without further delay.

The party in a statement signed by its State Publicity Secretary,
Jerry Needam while reacting to the demonstration in Port Harcourt by
Pensioners, condemned the refusal of government to pay them their
entitlements, saying that the protest would have been avoidable, if
the Amaechi government was responsive to its responsibility.

ACN said Pensioners that are today neglected were the sacrificial
lambs of good life Amaechi, politicians and political robbers in
Amaechi’s government are enjoying today.

Jerry Needam further disclosed that the demonstration by Pensioners in
Rivers State has brought to the fore, the insensitivity of Gov
Amaechi’s administration to the welfare and plight of Rivers people,
particularly, elder statesmen like Pensioners, who put in everything
in them to institutionalize an enduring Civil Service structure in
Rivers State.

ACN regretted that while Gov Rotimi Amaechi is planning to retire into
glass houses in choice areas in Port Harcourt and Abuja, at the
expense of Rivers people and reserve for himself and family large
chunk of the State budget for life, through an obnoxious bill, that
was surreptitiously signed by him into law, the real pensioners are
abandoned.

“Those who actually laboured for the State, all through their life,
and retired in the service of the State, are left in penury on account
of neglect and abandonment by government they meritoriously served”,
ACN further regretted.

According to ACN the Rivers State government under Amaechi which
receives the highest allocation in Nigeria, still owes Pensioners’
entitlements, stressing that no responsible government treats
Pensioners with careless abandon.

The party describes the action of the Amaechi led government as an act
of ingratitude considering the huge contributions made by these
Pensioners for the growth of Rivers State.

ACN therefore urges the Governor of Rivers State to desist forthwith
from spending the resources of Rivers State on frivolities, and
channel billions of naira accruing to the State into payment of
entitlements due Pensioners.

Jerry Needam
Publicity Secretary
ACN, Rivers State

Tackling Youth Unemployment: The Way Forward

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YouWin Nigeria Young Entrepreneur Initiative

By Godday Odidi

In Nigeria, youth unemployment is soaring high despite that the government have provided laudable programmes to curb the growing concern of joblessness among the teeming population in the country in recent times.President Goodluck Jonathan recently launched youth enterprise with new innovation in Nigeria to reduce the high density of unemployment of graduates from the nation ‘s universities. In the 60s and 70s, unemployment was not pronounced because the government then were proactively providing for graduates churning out from the universities with full job security with no qualms. Unemployment and underemployment is seriously confronting the Nigerian youth in all ramifications.The increase in population of Nigerians is one of the challenges facing the labour market which the government on its part failed to provide full employment to its citizenry. The increasing in government spending’s and inflation have prevented  political and economic development in the country.Youth unemployment  should be blamed on both the private and public sectors of the country.  The government have abysmally failed to provide for unskilled, semi- skilled and skilled people at all levels.

 

Unemployment is defined as a state of people living in absolute joblessness which ranges fall between the ages of 20-40 while unemployment is refers as people who are gainfully employed but not financially rewarding to authenticate their qualifications.Many  Nigerians today are underemployed despite their intimidating credentials being possessed in high flying institutions in the world together with economic recession and inconsistent policies in the country. Our micro finance  and commercial banks are  not helping matters to lend money to young entrepreneurs who intend to do their private businesses with no dependence on the government. The so-called oil marketers have created job employment to Nigerians which the National Assembly described as cabals. The micro and macro objectives of creating jobs for Nigerian youths are still in hitherto which the government have not done any credible programmes to effect change on the Nigerian youth.

 

During the  2011 presidential campaign when Goodluck Jonathan launched out his books to enable Nigerian youth to read but the   youths of Nigeria are ready to further their education to the highest level but job security is the major stake to the vision. Time without number when politicians have promised youths of instant employment yet nothing has been done to reduce the situation at present. In the labour market, unemployment is growing at geometrical progression due to inability  of this job agency to identify qualified persons to work. It is of record that only graduates with first class degrees are employed while those with second class and third class degrees are not given opportunity to work.. Some job offers are given to those who live in highbrow areas of the country . For instance in Lagos, those that are living in ghetto areas like Ajegunle and Mushin are not given opportunity to work even when they are qualified because their CVs are traced to slum communities.The government is not helping matters to create jobs for the teaming youth population churning out of the nation’s universities on yearly basis. Our university system is not training human capital development or job creators rather than job seekers with no entrepreneurial skills to be self-employed. Our universities are only introducing entrepreneurial courses without putting them in practice.Despite many Non governmental organizations(NGOs) are being created by individuals to alleviate poverty in the country, the poverty index is unquantifiable and unquestionable. The parameters to create jobs by government and private sectors are skirmishing to the extent that crime rate is alarming to the detriment of the Nigerian economy. Unemployment is a world problem which some advanced countries have provided jobs for their citizens in one way or the other.

 

Recently, the Kwara state governor Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed gave automatic employment to 1400 youths to join the Kwara civil service which many Kwara indigenes applauded him for such governmental gesture. Even Delta State governor Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan also used Democracy day to enlighten Delta youths to diversify their mindsets to other cooperative employment rather than oil and gas and banking industry. Other state governors in the country are not left out in providing employment to her youths. Everybody seems to be preaching entrepreneurship methodology towards the Nigerian youth but the banking industry is not ready to lend out money to young people to start their own businesses.Bribery and corruption has crept into government which job provision is no longer primary assignment rather secondary one.

 

No day passes by without seeing youths in various places searching for jobs through internet vacant jobs and others. Most job vacancies on the daily newspapers and magazines are mere fake which are not existing sometimes with incorrect websites, emails and contact phone numbers.The job desperation by our teeming youths in Nigeria transpired into high levels of crime such as pen robbery,cyber crime,prostitution,illegal oil wells and bunkerings, fraudulent activities and others. The population of Nigerian youth are growing astronomically while those graduating from various higher institutions of learning are innumerable. The macro objectives and econometrics of creating jobs in Nigeria in spite of creation  National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and National Directorate of Employment(NDE). unemployment, frustration and crime are economic order of the day. Different administrations with different economic agendas which vision 2020 is still in the pipeline. How many Nigerians are gainfully employed? The system has not really provided for unskilled workers. In the developed and advanced countries, unskilled and semi-skilled workers have their stakes in government but in Nigeria only those with University or polytechnic certificate holders are given opportunities to work and nothing else.Even some polytechnic graduates are underpaid and marginalized in the labour market.

 

The system of 6-3-3-4 education policy needed to be fully reconsidered as regard to those who have school leaving certificates and junior and senior secondary school certificates are given full employment in the public and private sectors. Youth empowerment programmes should regularly be created by successful politicians and business tycoons. Most graduates find it difficult to write a simple sentence or aptitude test which invariably prevent them not to get suitable jobs in the labour market.Even the power of man knows man has deeply crept into the democratic process of the country over the years. It has been recorded in recent times that President Goodluck Jonathan has the the largest special advisers among the African countries which jobs have been politically created to Nigerians.Overtly qualified people are not given opportunity to work as far such people do not have prominent people in corridors of power in the system.  Unemployment is soaring high because some people that are employed in the formal sector are not qualified to work To the extent that some organizations employ people who do not have knowledge of the business. How can a physical education or geography  graduate being employed asa banker or site engineer supervisor if the country is not really glorifying corruption.The University system is mere a camouflage to deprive qualified people not to get jobs for their livelihoods. The fact remains that only those that can bribe their ways through sex and any gratification can get suitable jobs in Nigeria. We still have good Nigerians that graduated with first class  or second class uppers without indulging in cesspool of corruption and were given automatic employment in the formal sector. Agitating for young graduates to go into Agriculture is a welcome development if t various stakeholders in the business are ready to give out loans to facilitate mechanized farming in Nigeria.How many jobs can Nigerian politicians provide for its constituencies he or she represented within his or her two years in office.The issue of job contracts is quiet alarming to the  extent that the Nigerian government is adamant of the unpalatable trend across the country coupled with the epileptic power supply and other social problems.

 

It is sad that a graduate that is given opportunity to  work by these so-called registered job agencies are only interested in partnering with the organizations to deduct  monthly salary of the client and also in charge to effect promotion. The Indians in Nigeria have succeeded in enslaving Nigerians in the name of seeking for employment in their organization.As far as the country is concerned no organizations who do not pass through these agencies. It is observed that most these job agencies are run by top employers of labour in this country.Even the government is not bothered about the causualization  of workers while the Nigerian Labour Congress(NLC)is adamant.Most of these job agencies conduct aptitude test and unnecessary screening exercises and collect fees from these job seekers  in order to secure jobs for them.

 

The job desperation due to family pressure and others have led some youth astray without considering its implications. The  Minister of Youth Development Alhaji Bolaji   Abdullahi recently organized a youth forum to help youths realize their goals in life. This was a good move to kick-start a youth programme in the country if the government is really sincere to core. If China as a country can discover its goal then Nigeria can likewise do the same. In every home in China , all her citizens are electronic producers while Nigeria is the highest consumption of imported goods and services despite the country is the 6th largest producer of crude oil and gas.Even as universities continue to create entrepreneurship courses, yet unemployment is nothing to write home about. Nigeria is yet to have a driving economic force despite the high numbers of technocrats and economists in the country which cannot create jobs for its teeming population. Youth creativeness and entrepreneurial skills
needed to be encouraged by established private organizations and government institutions. A new  ministry like Niger- Delta ministry can be created as a National focus where all unskilled and skilled persons can be gainfully employed or trained.Since no organization can directly employed its workers from the higher institutions without undergoing the organization training to acclimatised with its operation.The menace of Boko Haram can stop if secured jobs are provided to the youths by the government. The northern elites seem not to be interested in providing jobs for its people rather sponsor violence in the region.For government to embark on privatization and commercialization of government-owned property indicate the total failure of leadership in the country.The disable people must be employed in government and private institutions to reduce nuisance and unemployment in the country.

 

Lastly, our universities needed to be restructured in order to be agents of direct employment  to public and private sectors. President Goodluck Jonathan needs to fix infrastructural development across the country while tribalism, nepotism and bureaucracy must be separated from job employment so that qualified persons could be given instant employment  in the country.

BY GODDAY ODIDI. PUBIC AFFAIRS ANALYST, 08063458693,08058124798, 20 ORO STREET AJEGUNLE APAPA LAGOS

President Jonathan’s Statement @ Rio+20 Summit

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STATEMENT

 

 

 

By

 

 

DR GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCON, GCFR

President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces

of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria

 

AT THE

UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (RIO+20 SUMMIT)

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

 

 

 

 

 

 

20-22 JUNE 2012

PROTOCOL

 

Your Excellencies, Dear Delegates,

Let me first congratulate the President of Brazil for her election as the President of this historic Summit and also appreciate her for the facilities and the warm hospitality the Government of Brazil has provided.  I also commend the Secretary General and staff of the United Nations for organizing this Conference, which marks the 20th Anniversary of the Earth Summit, also held in this beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro.

 

The presence of many world leaders at this Summit lends credence to the fact that global cooperation is imperative to ensuring sustainable development in our world.  In line with the chosen theme for the Conference, we owe an obligation to our peoples and coming generations to eradicate poverty and employ green economy in our sustainable development programme.

 

For us in Africa, the Green Economy is an agenda for growth, wealth creation and employment generation.  We believe that the promotion of a Green Economy must be underlined by clear national objectives, social and economic development imperatives and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

 

We are aware of the constraints posed to sustainable development in Africa by emerging challenges such as the global financial crisis, migration, rapid urbanization, the energy and food crisis, low resistance to natural disasters, desertification and the loss of the eco-system resulting from climate change.

 

A spectacular case in point is the Lake Chad in West and Central Africa which used to be the 6th largest Lake in the world.  Unfortunately, this body of water, a major global resource has become endangered to the extent that it has shrunk from about 25,000 sq kms in 1964 to less than 2000 sq kms today.  At this rate, if nothing is done promptly to salvage the situation, this world heritage will disappear within 20 years.

 

As a response to this great ecological challenge, a feasibility study on the Inter-Basin Water Transfer from the Ubangi River in Central African Republic (CAR) to Lake Chad has been embarked upon.  Nigeria has committed US$5 million out of the US$6 million earmarked for the studies.  However, efforts to save the Lake exceed the capacity of the contiguous states because of the enormous resources required.  I, therefore, appeal to the international community to support this project which is a global responsibility.

 

Concerned as we are about the sustainability of the environment, Nigeria promoted the Great Green Wall for Sahara Initiative as an integrated approach to check desertification and depletion of natural resources in the Sahel, from the West Coast to the Horn of Africa.  The goal of the Great Green Wall project is to develop a regional strategy and national implementation plan that would lead to selection of country and cross-border projects for financing by the countries. This noble project calls for donor support.

 

In our sustainable development agenda, under our medium to long term National Plans, we have developed several sectoral initiatives, particularly in agriculture, petroleum, solid minerals, power supply, renewable energy, trade and investment, water and sanitation, which accord priority to environmental and wider development issues.  Our goal is simple:  Create more jobs and opportunities for our people to rise out of poverty, create wealth to ensure sustainable development.

 

While we recognize that the developing countries have primary responsibility for implementing their own sustainable development agenda, there is no doubt that they need the support of the international community to achieve these objectives.  In effect, Rio+20 can only be seen to be successful if the thorny issue of the means of implementation is adequately addressed.  We must bridge the yawning gaps undermining the fulfilment of international commitments on sustainable development, especially in areas of finance, external debt, trade and investment, capacity building and technology development.

 

I earlier referred to this Conference as historic because it marks a defining moment, both for humanity and for our planet.  Today, we have a unique opportunity to reshape the future and redefine the relationship between human advancement and environmental sustainability, by ensuring that we join, in a collective effort, to reduce the conflict between human development and environmental conservation.

 

Twenty years ago at the ‘Earth Summit’, we made a number of pledges.  Today, twenty years later, it is evident, that there is still a lot more that we need to do.  Working together to develop ‘green economies’, offers us a greater chance of a sustainable future.  And that work must be intensified now.

 

As our challenges are collective, both in nature and consequence, our responses must also be collective, for them to have the desired impact.  And because the circumstances that confront us are extraordinary, the kind of change that is needed must also be extraordinary. To serve as a catalyst to advance this, Nigeria believes that the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, Kenya be strengthened as a more robust United Nations Agency dedicated to advancing environmental and sustainable development issues.

 

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my hope, that the outcomes of this Conference will mark that turning point in history that we all can look back at another ten to twenty years from now, and say that this is where and when we met, took the right decisions and the right actions that shaped a better future.

 

I thank you.

Who Is Who In Boko Haram

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The Late Leader

Abubakar Shekau

He is the leader of  Boko Haram.

He is said to be a fearless loner, a complex, paradoxical man – part intellectual, part gangster.

Fondly called imam or leader by his followers, Abubakar Muhammad Shekau was born in Shekau village in Yobe State.

Some say he is 34 or 35, others that he may be 43 – the uncertainty adds to the myths surrounding Nigeria’s most wanted man.

Shekau was once thought to have been killed by security forces in 2009 – only  for him to reappear in videos posted on the internet less than a year  later as Boko Haram’s new leader. He has not been seen in public since.  Instead, still images and video clips of him are released from time to  time, mostly online, by the group’s faceless “public enlightenment  department”.

He is said to have met his predecessor in Maiduguri, capital of Borno  State through a mutual friend, Mamman Nur, who is said to have  masterminded the August 2011 bombing of the UN office complex in Abuja.

Under  Shekau, Boko Haram has become more radical and carried out more  killings. He is fluent in his native Kanuri, Hausa and Arabic languages – he does not speak English.

He is said to have married one of Mohammed Yusuf’s  four wives and adopted their children.

Shekau does not communicate directly with the group’s foot soldiers – he is  said to wield his power through a few select cell leaders, but even  then, contact is minimal.

He is nicknamed “Darul Tawheed”, which translates as a specialist in  Tawheed. This is an orthodox doctrine of the uniqueness and oneness of  Allah, which is the very cornerstone of Islam.

Kabiru Sokoto was arrested in February by the State Security Service (SSS). He was earlier arrested by the police, and ‘allowed’ to escape. His escape led to the dismissal of Deputy Commissioner of Police Zakari Biu. He  was declared wanted, with a N5million ransom on his head before the SSS  re-arrested him at Mutum in Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba   State. He has been with the SSS. He is believed to be giving vital  information which has been helping understand how the Boko Haram sect  works.

His real name is Kabiru Abubakar Dikko. The 29-year-old was born to the  family of Umaru Jabbi of Gagi village in Sokoto South Local Government  Area on May 9, 1983.

After the death of his father, his uncle, Abubakar Dikko, adopted him and  gave him his name. He completed his secondary education in 2003 and was  admitted to the College of Nursing and Midwifery, Sokoto, where he was  said to have been  a truant with extremist tendencies.

Abu Qaqa

The SSS is also holding a man it said was the spokesman of the sect, Abu  Qaqa. But Boko Haram has insisted that the man in the SSS custody is Abu Darda, its head of public enlightenment. He was arrested in February  and has been with the agency since then.

The sect said: “The person that was arrested was Abu Darda and not  Abu-Qaqa. I am Abul Qaqa, the spokesman for the Jama’atu Ahlis Sunnati  Lidda’awati Wal Jihad.  Abu Darda is the head of the Lagina (Dept) of  public enlightenment and not the spokesman.

“The arrest of Abu Darda is an outright deception and betrayal by the  Nigerian government and security agents. They proclaimed dialogue and  are doing the opposite. His arrest has proved to us that they were  waiting for us to avail ourselves so that they can arrest us.

“We purposely sent Abu Darda to Kaduna to discuss with some key government  functionaries on the issue of dialogue. Indeed, he had started talking  to them but unknown to him, they (had) directed some security agents to  trail him and arrest him.

“This is exactly what happened. He volunteered to present himself for the  dialogue but was betrayed. Everybody knows our capability and tactics of operation. It is evidently clear that none of our members could be  caught on a platter of gold and without confrontation.”

In May, his father was reported killed by the sect in Maiduguri because of his alleged revelations on the group to the SSS.

Suleiman Mohammed

He was arrested in May along with his wife and five children in the Farawa, Kano.

His arrest came hours after blasts and gunfire rocked Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Mohammed has been described as Boko Haram’s head of operations in Kano under the group’s suspected leader, Abubakar Shekau.

Three pistols, a rifle, 1,000 rounds of ammunition and 10 Improvised Explosive Devices (IDEs) were recovered from his house.

Ayuba Usman

He was arrested in May at his shop in a market in Kano following  information from suspected Boko Haram members arrested in raids.

High profile suspects allegedly said Usman was providing combustible  chemicals used in the manufacture of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) for attacks on innocent people in the city.

Thirty-five  drums of chemicals of 240 litres each and a dozen bags of combustible  items were recovered during the raid on his shop in one of the markets  in Dala Local Government Area of the state.

Ibrahim Mohammed Ali

A prime suspect in the coordinated attacks on Christian worshippers at  the old campus of Bayero University, Kano in which 20 persons, including 2 professor, were killed. He was arrested in May.

Ali, a diploma holder from Ramat Polytechnic, Maiduguri, Borno State, was  nabbed by security operatives who had been on his trail.

The JTF arrested him after surrounding a house located at Bubugaje, Sharada Phase III Industrial Layout in Kumbotso Local Government Area, where he was hiding.

 

There was a three-hour shoot-out between the JTF and suspected members of the sect before he was arrested.

—

Source: The Nation

False Bomb Scare Near PDP Headquarters In Abuja

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Information reaching 247ureports.com indicates a bag of old cloths planted in the form of a bomb was found carefully placed near the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] in Wuse 5 Abuja. The bagged object was reported to have been planted near the Wadata Plaza used by the PDP as headquarters. Particularly, the device believed to be a bomb was discovered at minutes after 4:30pm planted between a hotel [Top View Hotel], and the headquarters of the civil defense service.

The bagged device believed to be bomb was said to cause a steer within the immediate vicinity – offices and banks near the wadata plaza closed and the people residing nearby escaped the area. However as Bomb experts arrived to detonate or diffuse the bomb, it was discovered that the bag contained a old abandoned cloths.

President Goodluck Jonathan is due to return from Brazil today.

Israel says clock ticking after Iran talks fail

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JERUSALEM: Israel has responded to the failure of the latest nuclear talks between world powers and Iran with a familiar refrain: sanctions must be ramped up while the clock ticks down toward possible military action.

With diplomacy at an impasse, there is satisfaction among Israeli leaders at what they see as a tough line taken by the West in the negotiations on curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, Israeli political sources said on Thursday. A member of the British negotiating team quietly visited Israel on Wednesday to brief officials on this week’s Moscow talks, the sources said, and new US and European sanctions against Iran are due to come into effect in the next two weeks.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak stuck closely to his stated line, without offering any new sense of urgency, when asked by the Washington Post how much more time Israel can allow for diplomacy to work. “I don’t want to pretend to set timelines for the world,” he said, “but we have said loud and clear that it cannot be a matter of weeks but it (also) cannot be a matter of years”.

Preparations for any strike against Iran, which Israel and Western powers suspect is trying to develop the capacity to build a nuclear bomb, are closely guarded in Israel. But Barak said that even in the United States, which has counselled against jumping the gun while a diplomatic drive with Iran is under way, “at least on a technical level, there are a lot of preparations”.

Iran and six world powers – the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany – failed to secure a breakthrough in Moscow at what was the third round of the latest diplomatic initiative, and set no date for more political talks. Last month, and again in Moscow, the powers asked Iran to close the Fordow underground facility where uranium is being enriched to 20-percent fissile purity, and to ship any stockpile out of the country, demands that come close to Israel’s.

Israeli Vice Premier Shaul Mofaz held talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Iranian navy has announced plans to build more warships and increase its presence in international waters at a time of growing tension in the Middle East over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Navy commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said the deployments would protect Iranian cargo ships around the world, in particular in the Gulf of Aden and the northern part of the Indian Ocean, according to state news agency IRNA. The navy wanted to guard Iranian ships from Somali pirates, the report said.

IRNA did not mention Israel although the Jewish state has hinted it might take military action against Iran’s nuclear programme. An Israeli official repeated the veiled threat on Wednesday following the failure of the latest round of international talks to make progress on the issue. State-owned Press TV quoted Sayyari as saying: “Our presence in international waters is aimed at safeguarding the interests of the Islamic Republic and strengthening military power to defend Iran.”

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