Terrorism: NEMA Takes Relief Materials To Chibok

The National Emer­gency Management Agency (NEMA) has again distributed relief materials to members of the Chibok community traumatized by activities of terrorists.

Boko Haram Defies Purported Ceasefire, Kills 15 in Borno, Adamawa

Less than 24 hours after a purported ceasefire agreement between the Federal Government and Boko Haram was reached, the sect struck yesterday by attacking two communities in Borno and Adamawa states.

Restaurant 'Declined' President Obama's Credit Card

President Barack Obama's credit card was declined at a restaurant in New York City last month, he said.

South African Official WhoInvestigated Pres. Zuma's $23M Home Upgrade Wins Anti-Graft Award

South Africa's top anti-graft official who investigated a $23 million state-funded security upgrade to President Jacob Zuma's private home was recognised on Friday with an award for tackling corruption.

"Why Jonathan Approved Ceasefire Deal With Boko Haram”

President Goodluck Jonathan’s commitment to end insurgency, ensure security and peace in Nigeria is the driving force for all engagements and negotiations with the extremist Boko Haram sect, a government spokesperson, Mike Omeri, has said.

2015: National Security And Leadership Style

For obvious reasons, and due to the myriad of security challenges confronting the Nigerian nation, there is a mistaken trend that perhaps the best leader to infuse discipline and engender national security is a man or woman with a military mien, a person who can order people around.

Cameroonian Troops Kill 107 Boko Haram Insurgents

Cameroonian authorities have said that its forces killed 107 members of the Boko Haram militant sect in clashes in its north, an area that has seen regular cross-border raids by the sect.

Nigeria Reaches 'Ceasefire Agreement' With Boko Haram

Nigeria's military says it has agreed a truce with Islamist militant group Boko Haram and the schoolgirls it has abducted will be released.

Falling Crude Oil Prices: Winners and Losers

Falling oil prices mean that some oil exporters are bracing themselves for significant revenue shortfalls, while some importing countries could benefit economically as consumers pay less for energy and have more to spend elsewhere.

Abducted Chibok Girls: Nigerian Government Meets With Boko Haram Representatives In Chad

The Principal Private Secretary to the President, Ambassador Hassan Tukur, has met with Chadian Government officials as well as representatives of the Boko Haram sect in N’Djamena, Chad, in an effort to secure the release of the 219 Chibok girls abducted by Boko Haram.

Hausa Community In South West Nigeria Arrests 1,000 Boko Haram Members

Sarkin Hausawa of Lagos, Alhaji Sani Kabir, on Thursday told the Federal Government that northerners in the South-west have arrested more than 1,000 members of the Boko Haram insurgents in parts of the South West of Nigeria.

Protest Rocks Benin Over Arrest of Edo House of Assembly Speaker, Others

BENIN CITY--POLITICAL tension heightened in Edo State
yesterday, following the arrest of the speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Uyi Igbe, the Majority
Leader of the House, Philip Shaibu, and the Chief Whip, Folly Ogedengbe, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in Abuja.
The trio, who travelled to Abuja last Monday on the invitation of the EFCC, was said to have been detained
for alleged forgery of the signature of one of PDP lawmakers, Rasaq Momoh, during the impeachment of
Deputy Speaker of the House, Festus Ebea.

Their detention elicited protest, led by the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Kabiru Adjoto, in
Benin yesterday.
Adjoto vowed that they would stage a one million man march in Abuja, if the lawmakers were not released by
yesterday, describing as unfortunate the fact that the EFCC would turn itself into a tool for the PDP to use to
witch hunt APC lawmakers in Edo State.
"If they kill our principal officers, we will fight with our blood," Adjoto warned.

He also raised an alarm over alleged plot by the EFCC and the PDP to eliminate the trio but warned that the
EFCC should be ready to kill the entire Edo people if anything went wrong with their principal officers.

Speaker faints

The situation is even more critical as the speaker who is the son of the Iyase of Benin Kingdom (Prime
Minister), is said to have fainted twice at the EFCC cell in Abuja, following the torture he allegedly received.
Adjoto said: "As I speak with you, the EFCC has arrested the speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, the
Majority Leader, Philip Shaibu, Chief whip, Folly Ogedengbe. They were arrested Wednesday and as we
speak they are being kept under very inhuman condition in Abuja.

"You are all aware that last week, there was a very vicious attack on the legislative quarters. Philip Shaibu
sustained serious bullet wounds, the Speaker was wounded and the Chief whip was wounded equally.
"The EFCC arrested them not minding their health conditions. We are reliably informed that the Speaker of
the House collapsed two times this morning. Philip is bleeding profusely and they are being denied medical
attention.
"As we speak, the reasons for their arrest is that the EFCC said they forged the signature of Rasaq Momoh
when the former deputy Speaker Festus Ebea was impeached.

Concern

"Our concern is this, when did the EFCC become an agency to investigate forgery of signature? When has forgery of signature become a financial crime?
Impeachment of either the Speaker or Deputy Speaker is purely the business of the House. EFCC has no business what so ever with it. We are surprised that the EFCC can reduce itself to investigate a crime that has already been spelt out as a criminal matter
according to the constitution.

" The EFCC is not set up to investigate forgery of signature and that they have reduced themselves shows
that they are not just acting.
"As we speak, the leadership of the PDP in Edo State is at the headquarters in Abuja. And the most worrisome is that the President of the country has given directive that these three principal officers of the Edo State House of Assembly be charged to court and be remanded indefinitely.

That is giving us serious concerns. One will expect the police to investigate that matter, what has EFCC got to do with forgery of
signature.?
"Last week these same people came here to kill us. As we speak, innocent people are being picked up on the
streets of Benin, but the real people have that committed crime not been arrested. They went to PDP
secretariat and were celebrating.
"But as a people, we will not fold our hands and allow this injustice to continue. We are giving EFCC till 4pm
today to release these principal officers. If they refuse to release them, as a people we have resolved to
organize a one million man march to Abuja and Abuja will know that we have arrived."

Source:
Vanguard

Police nab ATM fraudster in Cross River

The Cross River Police Command on Thursday announced the arrest of a man who specialized in ATM
fraud in the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Titilayo Busari, said the suspect was caught with 60 ATM cards and
N258,000 cash.

Busari said the state command had mapped out measures to prevent criminals from stealing people’s
money and other valuables.
He said the suspect was arrested in Calabar while trying to swap his card with that of another person at
the premises of a new generation bank on Calabar Road.

He said, “He was arrested by the police for allegedly swapping Automated Teller Machine cards of several people with invalid cards.
“He used those cards in withdrawing large sums of money from the accounts of the victims.
“We have worked out modalities to ensure that people across the state enjoy not only the Christmas festival,
but also freedom to carry on with their normal and lawful businesses.

“My men and I are ready to ensure that any criminal who rears his head in the state is nabbed.”
He warned people to be careful of asking for assistance while making withdrawals through ATM.
The suspect was arrested with N258,000 cash in his possession.
The suspect had earlier told newsmen that he came to Calabar from Abuja two weeks ago.

He also confessed that he had succeeded in swapping ATM cards of several people to withdraw from their
accounts.
The suspect said he spent the money lavishly in hotels and night clubs.
He said, “What I do is that I monitor people when they are making withdrawals through ATM.
“I go close to them and pretend to help them. When I notice the person’s pin number, I immediately memorize
it.
“After a while, the person is counting his money, I swap his ATM card with an invalid one and later use it to
make withdrawals from his account.”

He said he had used the method to withdraw several millions of naira from people’s account.

Source:
Nigerian Eye

NHRC Fines Dangote N49m For Extra-judicial Killings By Guards

The National Human Rights Commission has asked Dangote Cement Plc to pay a total sum of N49m to the individuals and families of victims injured and killed extra-judicially by the guards of the company in Gboko Local Government Area of Benue State in March, 2014.
Seven persons were said to have been killed and seven others injured by the guards during a crisis which broke
out in Tse-Kucha community in Yandev area of the local government on March 18.

A statement by the Chief Press Officer of the NHRC, Fatimah Mohammed, on Thursday, said Dangote Cement was expected to pay N5m to each of the families of the seven deceased persons and N2m each to the seven injured persons.

According to Mohammed, the company agreed to pay the money after the NHRC investigated the petition of the victims and families of the deceased person.
The statement read in part, “Victims and family members affected by the March 18, 2014 crisis at Tse-kucha in Yandev, Gboko Local Government Council of Benue State, have expressed appreciation to the
National Human Rights Commission for its intervention in their petition on the case of alleged extra-judicial
killing pending before the commission and requested it
to close the matter.

“The commission had, pursuant to the receipt of the complaint undertaken preliminary investigations and conducted hearings after which parties explored mediation and reached an agreement brokered by the Governor of Benue state, Dr. Gabriel Susuam between
representatives of the victims and Dangote Cement Plc.
“This amicable settlement resulted to the acceptance by
the management of Dangote Cement PLC to pay a monetary compensation of five million naira (N5,000,000.00) each to the families of the seven
deceased persons and two million naira (N2,000,000.00) each to the seven injured persons.”

The statement also quoted the Executive Secretary of the commission, Prof Bem Angwe, as promising “that the commission will continue to hold any institution
accountable for human rights violations committed by
them.”

Source:
Punch Newspaper

Insecurity: Nigerian Government Set To Amend ‘Colonial Era’ Firearms Act

THE Federal Government, in line with its overall counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency strategy, has reached advanced stage in the proposed amendment of the 1959 Nigerian Firearm Act and the Firearms Act CAP F28 LFN 2004.

Chairman, Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PRESCOM), Ambassador Emmanuel Imohe, stated this in Abuja, on
Wednesday, at the opening of a two-day experts’ roundtable on the repeal of the Nigerian “Firearms Act.”

According to Imohe, the Act was obsolete and did not reflect the realities and challenges associated with armed violence and Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) proliferation.

He noted that the effectiveness of the
implementation of the ECOWAS Convention on SALW depended largely on the potency of the member states’ national gun laws, the potency of the institutional framework for the
implementation of the convention (notably the National Commission), as well as the conformity or harmonisation of the national gun laws in member states to the provisions of the ECOWAS
Convention.

The former Director General of Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA), however, lamented that the “law is not strong enough to constitute a deterrent on the nefarious activities of such criminals” and the “existing Act lacks the bite to hand over commensurate sanctions to culprits or breaches of the Act.”

Speaking further, the former Nigerian
Ambassador to the Unites States (US) said that since President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated PRESCOM last year, they have stressed the problem posed by the proliferation of illicit
weapons to national peace and security, especially the role of illegal arms in strengthening non-state actors and reinforcing criminal networks like Boko Haram terrorist group.

Meanwhile, the proposed amendment was carried out by PRESCOM, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Justice, and technical and expert inputs the security agencies, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), ECOWAS Commission, ICRC, and UNREC amongst others.

Source:
Tribune