Sahara Reporters Latest News Sunday 6th October 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 06/10/19
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target=_blank>Borno Government Contracts 30 Saudi-based Clerics To Pray For Peace In The State
Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, has signed an agreement with 30 Saudi-based clerics to pray for peace in the state.
This was disclosed in a statement by the spokesperson to the governor, Isa Gusau.
He said, “An old man amongst them is said to have remained a Ka’aba devotee in the last 40 years.
“The Ka’aba is Islam’s holiest area located inside the grand Al-Haram mosque in Makkah.
“The aim is to combine different approaches that include sustained support for the Nigerian Armed Forces, aggressive mass recruitment and equipping of more counter-insurgency volunteers into the Civilian JTF, hunters and vigilantes as well as socio-economic approach in enhancing access to education, job opportunities and providing other means of livelihood through social protection initiatives.”
Gusau, who was present during Governor Zulum’s brief interaction with the devotees on Friday evening around the Ka’aba in Saudi Arabia, said “The governor was there to convey his deepest gratitude and to seek continued prayers.
“Rather than sending anyone, the governor was there to, on behalf of the good people of Borno State, thank them for their empathy and the compassion in devoting themselves to praying for us everyday at the Ka’aba which for us as Muslims, is the most sacred place.
“We need these prayers more than ever before.
“We are handling our problems from different approaches.
“Prayer is key in everything that we seek. We will continue to seek prayers from many fronts.
“We will keep supporting clerics of different faiths in Nigeria for the same prayers and we will seek the same from all of you that are always here around the Holy Ka’aba.
“The governor basically will beg that they continue to pray for us towards achieving three things: first, for us to regain peace in Borno State, all of the North and Nigeria in general.
“We will have to continue that prayer on a permanent basis because we need the peace that will be sustained.”
Zulum’s quest for spiritual intervention is coming days after Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Butatai, declared that a spiritual solution was required to end Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.
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target=_blank>Security Task Force Apprehend Notorious Kidnap Gang In Ondo
Four members of a seven-man kidnap gang suspected to be terrorising commuters in Akoko area of Ondo State have been nabbed by security agents.
They were arrested on Saturday in different locations including Ajowa, Akunnu and Auga Akoko by security operatives.
Wasiu Mohammed, son of head of Auga community, was among members of the kidnap squad that was apprehended.
SaharaReporters gathered that the arrest of the suspects was made possible by efforts of operatives of the State Security Service, police and army.
Mohammed and his gang were arrested after kidnapping a 45-year-old Islamic cleric, Jamiu Zakariyahu, in Ajowa Akoko on Wednesday.
But Zakariyahu escaped from the den of the kidnappers few days after his abduction and reported the case to the police.
A security source said the gang had demanded for a N10m ransom on Zakariyahu but later reduced it to N5m following series of negotiations between the families of the victim.
“It was during their negotiation that we tracked one (Wasiu) at a location in the community.
“He later led us to the hideout where three other persons were nabbed by the Joint Security Task Force,” the source said.
Rasak Rauf, police boss in Ikare Area Command of Akoko, confirmed the arrest and noted that the suspects have all been moved to Akure, the state capital.
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target=_blank>Boko Haram Kills 16 Civilians, 11 Soldiers In Borno
Boko Haram terrorists have killed 16 civilians and 11 soldiers in Borno State.
This was disclosed to AFP by military and militia sources on Saturday.
On Thursday, insurgents ambushed a military convoy near Mauro Village in Benisheikh district, according to a military source.
“Our men on patrol fell into a terrorist ambush… which claimed 11 soldiers and wounded 16 others.
“Two other soldiers are still missing,” an officer, who asked not to be identified, said.
He added, “The terrorists made away with 11 AK-47 rifles and anti-aircraft gun mounted on the gun truck.”
In another attack that same day, Boko Haram insurgents opened fire on a vehicle at Frigi Village, killing one person and injuring another, militia sources said.
Jihadist fighters also killed two militiamen in Gubio, 80 kilometres from the state capital, Maiduguri.
On Saturday, Boko Haram fighters stormed a camp for those displaced by the conflict in the town of Banki near the border with Cameroon, killing two residents and injuring three vigilantes guarding the area, two militia sources said.
The decade-long Boko Haram campaign has killed 35,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes in North-East Nigeria.
The violence has spread to neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military coalition to fight the insurgents.
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target=_blank>Nigeria Can Become Stronger If States Have More Powers, Rights, Says Osinbajo
Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has said that Nigeria can become a stronger and more prosperous country if states have more powers.
Osinbajo stated this while speaking at the 59th Independence Anniversary Lecture at the Island Club, Lagos, on Friday, according to Channels TV.
He said Nigeria’s population and diverse ethnic groups have necessitated that states in the country be strengthened to enable them contribute more to national productivity and development.
According to him, this can be achieved with “stronger, more autonomous states that are able to generate and control more of their resources”.
He said, “The most important transformative change we can make in Nigeria is to lift the majority of our people out of deprivation by speedily creating wealth and opportunity leading to the eradication of poverty.
“The nation cannot be wealthy when its component parts – the states – are poor. The standard of living of the federation depends on the standard of living of people who live in the states.
“In other words, the federation can only be as rich as its richest state and as strong as its strongest state.
“Our national indices merely aggregate the realities of our weaknesses and strengths as present in all our constituent units.
“Consequently, we can only build a stronger and more prosperous nation by building stronger and more prosperous states.
“Building stronger states means ensuring the devolution of more power to the states, enabling them to control more of their resources and make more of their own administrative decisions such as the creation of local governments, the establishment of state and community police forces as well as state correctional facilities; creation of special courts and tribunals of equivalent jurisdiction to high courts.
“The point I am making is that states must have more powers and more rights.”
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target=_blank>Ex-UK Prime Minister, Cameron, Reveals Why Jonathan Prevented Them From Rescuing Chibok Girls
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron (L) takes part in a press conference with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House on July 19, 2011
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron (L) takes part in a press conference with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House on July 19, 2011
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A former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, has revealed why former President of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, prevented them from rescuing the girls abducted from a secondary school in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram terrorists in April 2014.
According to Cameron, Jonathan prevented British forces from engaging in rescue efforts as he seemed to see the entire incident as cheap politics.
In his recently published memoir, ‘For the Record’, Cameron, who was in office at the time of the abduction, said British troops traced the location of some of the victims and offered to help but Jonathan refused, according to TheCable.
Cameron wrote, “In early 2014, a group of fighters entered Government Secondary School in the village of Chibok, seizing 276 teenage girls.
“They were taken to camps deep in the forest. The Christians among them were forced to convert to Islam. Many were sold as slaves, entering the same endless violent nightmare the Yazidi women suffered.
“As ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign spread across the world, we embedded a team of military and intelligence experts in Nigeria, and sent spy planes and tornadoes with thermal imaging to search for the missing girls. And, amazingly, from the skies above a forest three times the size of Wales, we managed to locate some of them.
“But Nigeria’s President, Goodluck Jonathan, seemed to be asleep at the wheel. When he eventually made a statement, it was to accuse the campaigners of politicising the tragedy. And absolutely crucially, when we offered to help rescue the girls we had located, he refused.”
Jonathan’s spokesman, Ikechukwu Eze, could not be reached for comment on Saturday.
However, the former President had said in an interview on BBC last year that he could not be held responsible for the abduction of the Chibok girls.
Jonathan said rather, Boko Haram should be blamed for the abduction of the girls because as a President he could not go to the battlefield to fight insurgents.
He said, “I cannot take responsibility for the abduction, I don’t control Boko Haram. They are criminals.
“But as a President, of course you know it is not the President that goes to the field. You have security and intelligence officers that do the work.
“Let me admit that yes, maybe they did their best but their best was not good enough for us to recover the girls.
“That I cannot say I am right or I am wrong. That does not mean I am trying to remove myself from any blame.”
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target=_blank>BREAKING: Gunmen Kidnap Six Persons In Adamawa
Six persons have been kidnapped by heavily armed bandits in Adamawa State.
A local source told SaharaReporters on Saturday that the bandits stormed Gurin Village in Fufore Local Government Area and abducted six young men.
The source added that the victims were kidnapped along Fufore-Gurin Road in the early hours of Saturday.
According to the source, the victims were leading their cattle to graze in a field when the kidnappers struck and whisked them away.
Gurin Village is situated along the river bank separating Nigeria and Cameroon on the South-Eastern axis of Adamawa.
The state is experiencing a rise in kidnappings and violent crimes – some of which are high profile ones.
Last week, a professor at Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, was abducted and released after the payment of N2m ransom, according a member of his family.
Also last week, Chairman of Tabbital Pulaku Jonde Jam (a Fulani group), Abdu Bali, was murdered in his house, in Yola, the state capital.
When contacted over Saturday’s kidnapping, spokesperson for the police in Adamawa, DSP Suleiman Nguroje, confirmed the incident, adding that only four persons were kidnapped.
He said, “Four persons were kidnapped but the bandits freed one of them to take information home.”
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target=_blank>World Teachers Day: Delta Teachers Urge Okowa To Pay Salary Arrears
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Primary school teachers in Delta State have called on Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to pay up the ‘Teachers Salary Scale’ arrears they are being owed.
Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers in the state, Titus Okotie, who spoke on behalf of his colleagues on Saturday in Asaba, the capital, in commemoration of the 2019 World Teachers Day, said that the welfare of teachers in Delta was worrisome.
According to him, some of the challenges being faced by teachers in the state include the non-payment of two months consolidated salary arrears to primary school teachers, delay in payment of promotion arrears to over 40 per cent secondary school teachers, acute shortage of teachers in the state primary and secondary schools, inadequate provision of instructional and learning materials in schools.
Okotie said, “Deplorable state of school buildings particularly in rural areas, delay in the appointment of qualified secondary school principals are among numerous challenges teachers are facing in Delta.”
The teachers however, commended the state government for the recruitment of one thousand teachers and donation of a car to the NUT in the state.
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target=_blank>Ezekwesili, Odinkalu Call For Release Of Chibok Girls, Sowore
#BBOG Marks 2000 Days Of Chibok Girls’ Captivity
#BBOG Marks 2000 Days Of Chibok Girls’ Captivity
A former Minister of Education and Co-convener of the BBOG movement, Oby Ezekwesili, and former Chairman of National Human Rights Commission, Prof Chidi Odinkalu, have condemned the continued abduction of over 200 schoolgirls from Chibok, Borno State, and the detention of pro-democracy campaigner and Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore.
The two expressed their views on Saturday in Abuja during the commemoration of the 2000th day since the female students were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists in 2014.
Odinkalu said, “With the spate of continued abduction of activists like Sowore, Agba Jalingo etc, it is a case of abduction of the country not even just girls anymore.”
In her remarks, Ezekwesili called on the Nigerian Government to rise up to its core responsibility of protecting the lives and property of Nigerians instead of locking up people with divergent opinions on governance.
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target=_blank>Columbia University Condemns Continued Detention Of Alumnus, Sowore
Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, New York, United States, has condemned the continued detention of its alumnus, Omoyele Sowore, by the Nigerian Government despite fulfilling the bail condition initially set by Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Sowore, a pro-democracy campaigner and Publisher of Sahara Reporters, obtained his Master’s degree in Public Administration from the renowned institution.
The university in a post on Twitter, said Sowore had pioneered new and important avenues in the field of investigative journalism, therefore his arrest stands condemned.
The tweet reads, “Condemning Omoyele Sowore’s continued detention by the DSS even after reportedly meeting his bail conditions.
“Sowore is a world-renowned journalist. He has pioneered new and important avenues in the field of investigative journalism.”
Sowore was arrested by the DSS in Lagos on August 3, 2019 for calling on Nigerians to take to the streets in peaceful demonstrations to express their displeasure at the poor state of governance in the country.
On September 30, Justice Taiwo had granted him bail and ordered the DSS to release him after he met the condition given by depositing his international passport with the court.
But despite that ruling, President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime refused to free him, attracting condemnation from across the world.
On Friday however, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the same court again granted Sowore bail but this time with stringent conditions.
Sowore was asked to provide N100m and two sureties in like sum.
Justice Ojukwu also said that one of the sureties must own landed property and deposit N50m and show evidence of tax payment since 2016, while Sowore was barred from travelling outside Abuja and also speaking to the press.
The government is charging Sowore for acts of money laundering, insulting Buhari and planning to bring down his government – charges the pro-democracy campaigner vehemently denies and that had been described by legal practitioners across and beyond Nigeria as laughable and baseless.
The matter was adjourned to November 6, 7 and 8 for accelerated trial by the court.
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#BBOG Blasts Buhari, Marks 2000 Days Of Chibok Girls’ Captivity
Tears flowed freely as Nigerians gathered to commemorate 2,000 days since 276 pupils of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, were abducted in their school on April 14, 2014 by Boko Haram terrorists.
Members of advocacy group, #BringBackOurGirls, gathered at the popular Unity Fountain in Abuja on Saturday in honour of the abducted girls.
Speaking at the event, a member of the group, Maureen Kabrik, said they would not relent in their demand for the freedom of the remaining girls in captivity.
She said, “We would stay resilient, we would not be silent, we would not be intimidated or oppressed. We would not allow them to shut us.
“People died for this democracy and today President Muhammadu Buhari who led a coup in this country and truncated the first civilian government, is the beneficiary of another democracy that he never fought for.
“Today, he allows every kind of impunity to happen under his watch. We will resist the current impunity of this administration that has failed woefully.”
Highlight of Saturday’s event at the Unity Fountain include the placing of pairs of school shoes and name tags of the abducted girls on the floor.
Also, there was a roll call of victims and a minute silence observed in their honour.
The group condemned the arrest and vilification of the human rights activists, Omoyele Sowore, Agba Jalingo, Steven Kafas and Jones Abiri by the government.
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