Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Sunday 16th February 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 16/02/20
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Christian Association Of Nigeria Tells Lagos Governor To Stop Illegal Entrants In State
The Christian Association of Nigeria has called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos to stop illegal entry into the state in order to curb insecurity.
This was just as the Christian body expressed support for the policy of the state government to ban motorcycles and tricycles.
Rev. Supo Ayokunle, President of CAN, who spoke at the Inter-Denominational Divine Service on Saturday, said the policy was a right step in the right direction as he claimed that some terrorists operate with motorbikes and have the tendency to unleash terror in different communities.
Ayokunle called on Governor Sanwo-Olu to ensure he “monitors the ports in the state to prevent illegal entry of ammunition and safeguard the lives of the citizenry.
“It is the same Okada Boko Haram use to bomb places and run around. You cannot close your eyes to the security and welfare of the people. It is not about politics but about human lives. Be bold the city is behind you, we are wiser now.”
Ayokunle urged Sanwo-Olu to provide cabs and boats as alternatives for Lagos residents.
Sanwo-Olu in his speech thanked CAN for organising prayer and thanksgiving service for the state and nation.
He stated that the railway system was underway in the state, adding that his administration would focus on good governance.
He said, “Let us continue to understand that we are one another’s keeper. Even if things are hard it will be for a short while because better days are coming in our state.
“The state is going through a level of infrastructural transformation that will be to the benefit of all of us in transportation, road rehabilitation, education and other spheres.”
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Nigerian Takes Protest To White House Over Niger Delta Amnesty Programme
A Nigerian, Mr Kenneth Friday, who is based in the United States, has staged a solo protest in front of the White House in Washington DC by calling on President Donald Trump to place a visa ban on all political appointees in Nigeria over financial misconduct especially the Coordinator of the Niger Delta Presidential Amnesty Programme, Prof Charles Dokubo.
Kenneth, a beneficiary of the amnesty programme, alleged that Dokubo was being used to siphon funds meant for the programme.
He said, “Prof Dokubo boasts of bribing President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, Alhaji Abba Kyari with $2.8m, he also bribed the President’s nephew, Alhaji Mamman Daura, with $1.7m to retain him in office.
“Dokubo has stolen over $83m, an equivalent of N30bn, within the past two years and President Buhari has kept him in office to continue diverting public funds which is now being used to sponsor terrorist activities despite the fact that Dokubo’s appointment tenure expired since May 29, 2019.
“We want the United States Government, FBI and CIA to know that Nigerian Presidential officials are using Prof Dokubo to sponsor terrorist activities. #PressPlay: Nigerian Takes Protest To White House Over Niger Delta Amnesty Programme @NigeriaGov @NGRPresident @MBuhari pic.twitter.com/UtsEJW1UZv— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) February 15, 2020
“They have intentionally kept him in office despite the fact that appointment expired since May 2019 because they are using him to divert millions dollars to sponsor persons in Northern Nigeria that have contacts with terrorist groups.”
When contacted by SaharaReporters, Murphy Ganagana, spokesperson for the Amnesty Office, dismissed the allegations, saying it was a smear campaign against Prof Dokubo.
He said, “That person is fake and as such we don’t have a beneficiary by that name in the United States.
“The only beneficiary is a female and she is studying medicine. That man is being sponsored and those allegations don’t make any sense.”
Niger Delta
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Power Tussle Threatens Africa’s First UNESCO Cultural Site In Adamawa
Sukur Kingdom, Africa’s first UNESCO cultural site in Adamawa State, may lose some of its natural endowments following a leadership tussle, SaharaReporters has gathered.
Signs indicating grave danger surfaced when this year’s annual Sukur Cultural Festival, which often attracted domestic and international tourists, was suspended.
As gathered, the leadership crisis erupted when a Marghi tribesman was appointed as district head of Sukur following the death of the last Sukur-speaking ruler.
Sequel to this development, leaders of Sukur Development Association have vehemently rejected what to them is imposition of a non Sukur indigene as their ruler.
They also alleged that there were expansionist moves by Marghi-speaking settlers to influence the Adamawa State Government to rename the district from Sukur to Midlu.
This, according to them, was in a bid to erase their famous ancestral Sukur cultural heritage.
The area is located in the heart of Madagali Local Government Area frequently attacked by Boko Haram terrorists.
There is currently fears across the community of an attack by insurgents any moment from now.
A prominent resident of the area, Dr John Njile, while speaking with journalists on Saturday in Yola, the state capital, over the matter, urged Governor Ahmadu Fintiri to intervene to avert a crisis in the community.
He said, “The appointment of a non Sukur indigene to the throne of the district head of Sukur and the move to change the name from Sukur to Midlu is an affront on our national identity.
“Apart from being an attempt to forcefully change our history that could lead to turmoil and endanger the peaceful coexistence of Sukur and its neighbours; it is also a threat to Sukur world heritage site.”
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NNPC Recruits 1,050 Graduate Trainees
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said it has employed 1,050 graduate trainees during the 2019/2020 employment exercise.
This was disclosed in a statement from the corporation’s Managing Director, Mele Kyari.
Kyari said the Human Resources Division of the NNPC has since commenced the issuance of provisional offers of employment to the 1,050 fresh employees.
While describing the recruitment as a very important assignment for the corporation, Kyari stated that the outcome of the exercise reflected national spread and complied with all statutory requirements.
The GMD maintained that recruitment in the corporation will be a continuous process, even as he noted that the Experienced Hire component of the exercise would be addressed in due course.
“We look forward to warmly receiving our new team members and working with them to build a corporation that all Nigerians will be proud of,” Kyari added.
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How Kidnap Kingpin Punished Rapist Gang Member
A kidnap kingpin, Maduabuchi Amamba, has narrated how he punished one of his gang members, Ifeanyi Sylvanus, for raping one of their female victims.
Amamba, also known as Commander, said he deducted N40, 000 from Sylvanus’ ransom share as a punishment for his behaviour.
He said this when he was paraded by the Intelligence Response Team led by Abba Kyari.
Five cars and 10 mobile phones belonging to their victims as well as an Ak-47 rifle, a pump-action gun, five locally-made pistols and cartridges, were reportedly recovered from them.
Amamba, 30-year-old native of Osisioma Local Government Area told the police that he participated in several kidnappings including the abduction of a reverend father whom they freed after collecting N400,000 ransom.
He said, “I met my gang members at Umugbede area of Osisioma where we were smoking Indian hemp and cocaine. My father was sick and there was no money to treat him. One of my friends known as Chiemka aka Niggar took me to the joint where I met my other friends.
“In January 2019, we went for a robbery at Amafife area of Osisioma, we robbed a woman coming back from her shop and we snatched her bag. Niggar said he has been monitoring the woman for a long time. We were four that went for the robbery and we made N35,000.
“We then kidnapped a woman in a Jeep. We took her to Ojaba’s house. The person that brought the job for us said the woman could afford N20m ransom but her husband eventually paid N2m.”
He said Sylvanus watched over the woman at the camp, adding that he knew she was raped after she was released.
He added, “I was not aware Ifeanyi (Sylvanus) raped the woman. After the ransom was paid, I got information about what he did and I asked him. He confessed that he had s** with the woman four times. I deducted N40,000 from his share as a punishment and gave him N120,000.
“We then sold the woman’s vehicle to one Sunny who resides in Imo State for N400,000. In January 2020, we kidnapped a lawyer on Obingwa Road. He spent three days in our camp. The man paid N200,000 ransom and I got N34,000 as my share. My friends also sold the lawyer’s car.”
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Oluwo And Katakata Of Royal Rumbles By Kunle Wizeman Ajayi
It’s the second time I am hearing that the WWE Royal Rumble is actually a reality in Nigeria. The first I could not confirm as it was told by one of the richest Kings from a “marginalized” history today. That the most notable royal pugilist wanted to land the late Ooni of Ife an uppercut during a “peace” meeting. But this one is undeniable and quite evidently!
It is not only Anthony Joshua that is very good at boxing or dangerous wrestling like Israel Adesanya. Common! Oba Oluwo sabi throw blows self!
But why do monarchs throw blows? Why dem dey fight when we all know that these monarchs are almost useless in the socio-political running of society?!
The truth is that capitalism is very cunning. The system of greed and power eroded the powers of all the systems before it, but for those that still carry significant elements of greed and power like itself.
In feudalism, capitalism still cling to the battle for land and housing control. And in the monarchical, it relies on handling ethnicity; culturalism; and local nationalistic brigandage.
So, the fact that monarchs in Nigeria still carry some respect by the system despite the facts that they lack real usefulness to the public shows that Naija capitalism is as sharp as it’s British precursor that keep retaining the queendom that British comrade once described as a political museum!
This is quite in spite of some monarchs who see the crowns as a privilege to a people in resistance and for communal development (which has been so rare). The monarchical system is a crunch that capitalism carries on with it in its ruthless rules.
But on a lighter note, many of the critics of Oba Oluwo and his pugilism over his turning Oba Agbaagbaa’s royal face to a punching bag reminds one of the fact that royalty carries a heavily damaging history of political “gbas gbos” that makes it a battle of life and death. People battle to become Kings, Obis, and Emirs so as to lead the sharing formulas of whatever crumbs sent down to the localities by the capitalist government. So, these royals care more about power and getting constant contracts through make-believe influences. In Lagos, the royals are richer through the land business. In the Niger Delta, oil! While in the North, they become servants of the oligarchy. They care less about the citizenry than about the royal purses.
So, Oluwo has a reason to be so brutal like Anthony Joshua. Oluwo knows that the Iwo people love Islam and the monarchical emblem. He knows that he has to fight to keep fit for greed and power. It was never Ifa but his mysterious wealth that won him the royal theatre. So, Oluwo has to win the royal rumble!
Finally, this Oluwo’s excellent pugilism makes me to respect him more really. Don’t laugh please!
Is it not true that only warriors become Kings? Why can’t we now cope with just some 1;2;3;4 jabs on the face of a pregnant man roaming around as a fellow king? Why can’t we comprehend that Oluwo is a good example to Anthony Joshua by knocking down all opponents even if as big as Andy Ruiz?!
Let’s just pray that Oluwo will not go and present his hard earned belt to Oga Bubu who has faced the canvass in the rings against insecurity; corruption; and economic development severally!
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E2%80%93magu Women, Children Most Vulnerable Victims Of Corruption –Magu
Ibrahim Magu
Ibrahim Magu
Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu, has said that women and children are the “most vulnerable when it comes to corruption”.
He said this in Abuja on Friday during a nationwide rally held by the anti-corruption agency.
He also warned civil servants that coming late to government offices was corruption and a practice that must be stopped.
Magu noted that Nigerian women and children were the most vulnerable to the evils of corruption, adding that the Federal Government would continue to guard against “illicit financial flows”.
The EFCC boss spoke in Abuja during a nationwide rally held by the anti-corruption agency, the National Youth Service Corps, the Ministry of Women Affairs and the Ministry of Youths and Sports Development.
Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, his colleague in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs Paulen Tallen, and President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, were among dignitaries, who participated in the rally in Abuja.
Magu said, “Women and children own the future of this country. They are the most vulnerable when it comes to corruption. That is why we call on you to stand tall in the fight against corruption and illicit financial flow. You must learn to protect your future.
“It is our responsibility to take away this evil.
“The Nigerian Government and the President have approved and we have taken a common position on assets’ recovery and returns.
“This is what we are doing in the fight against corruption and financial flows. We must not allow corruption to ruin this country.”
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When 2023 Comes… By Remi Oyeyemi
When 2023 comes, the truth shall be known by all and sundry. They shall know the truth and the truth shall set them free. My true colours shall be unveiled for the world to see. Nothing shall be hidden from the people, low or mighty. Whether poor or rich. Whether weak or powerful. Whether connected or not. Nothing shall be hidden from them. Everything shall be put on the table.
When 2023 comes, nothing about me shall be hidden, no matter what anyone does. This is because under the sun, nothing could be hidden. Nothing is actually hidden. Nothing would be hidden. Nothing should be hidden. Nothing must be hidden. There would, should and must be sunshine on me and everything about me, because it would be my time.
When 2023 comes, it would be the time for people to know that I attended St. Peters Primary School, Aroloya, Victoria Island, Lagos. The world would be informed that I also attended St. Paul’s Elementary School Aroloya, Lagos Island, Lagos. It would be confirmed that I attended St. John’s Primary School, Aroloya, Lagos. Nothing would be held back.
When 2023 comes, the world shall find out how my primary school (s) have no physical address on the surface of the earth. The confusion about my primary education would become more complicated. The truth about my ability to operate like a spirit, attending non-existent schools shall be told to the world. Every bit of it, every detail of it shall be brought to the fore to sell my candidacy and convince the voters.
When 2023 comes, the world would come to know the truth that I attended Government College, Ibadan. Yes, that is my School. That is the High School, I attended. We call it the G. C. I. You can’t know that unless you attended that school. Only those of us who attended that school know that. I am very proud to be an ex- student of that school. The truth about this part of me shall be told to the world.
When 2023 comes, you would not have to worry about the fact that I never had a single classmate when I attended the GCI. Yes, my GCI, our GCI. A great school. A school with great history. You would not have to worry about the fact that when I attended the GCI, I had no Principal or Vice Principal or Housemaster of Gamesmaster. That is part of the truth about me, that the whole world would come to know.
When 2023 comes, the world shall come to know that I had no teacher throughout my stay in the GCI. Not when I was in Form One or Form Two. Not when I was in Form Three through Form Four to Form Five, I had not a single Teacher. I just went through the school like a ghost, unseen, unknown, unfelt. I was a poltergeist. I was a phantom. I couldn’t be fathomed.
When 2023 comes, the truth about my University education shall be told to the world. The truth about my Chicago University and or University of Chicago shall come to be known. The sun would shine on my academic trajectory in that wonderful city of Daley dynasty. I have appropriated a nickname as a result of this truth. People call me “Chicago” now. It is a nickname that I am very proud of. I have a lot of history in that City. The world shall come to know how ambidextrous I have always been.
Chicago, that glorious city that was once trotted by Al Capone, the king of the underworld, taught me a lot of lessons. It was a perfect place for me to learn political chicanery and charlatanism. It is part of my truth. It is part of what I have become, a crooked and criminal political dealer. So far, I have proved to be a good student, gallivanting as a gory gale across the Yorùbá nation.
When 2023 comes, the world shall be reminded about how six governors of the State of Illinois where Chicago calls home have been charged with crimes during or after their governorships; four were convicted, and of those, one Rod Blagojevich was the first to be impeached and removed from office. The world shall know about the City when I learnt the ropes to be so mindless and crooked. With this, everyone would appreciate how I became a mercantilist politician, employing crooked means for criminal political ends. I learnt in Chicago. That is why I am so successful.
When 2023 comes, the world shall be told about my escapades in the world of medication. How I made my illicit money selling ordinary medication, shall be brought under the klieg light for the world to see, to know and to properly comprehend. The world shall be told how the United States Government tried to prosecute me and how I “Plea bargained” to avoid going to prison and forfeited some money.
When 2023 comes, the world shall come to know that I am the first man in modern history to be too rich to resort to the use of bullion vans to carry my illicit money, regardless of the fact that it is against the law. The whole world shall come to salute me for being above the laws of the land and being a distinguished unscrupulous political dealer. I learnt in Chicago, remember that always.
When 2023 comes, it shall become officially pronounced that like my heartless, greedy, soulless brother, Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire, I am richer than the state. This is regardless of the fact that I have no visible and verifiable means of income. The world shall come to know the truth that I am truly the landlord of Lagos, and how I have acquired all the properties through fraudulent means and robbing the people blind.
When 2023 comes, the world shall be regaled with the trajectory of my name bearing, how like a chameleon, I have been changing with ease, bearing different names at different times to suit the weather, the day and the context. The world shall come to know about my escapades at Kudeti in Ebonyi State. All that I ever did would be brought to the knowledge of the world.
When 2023 comes, the world shall be told how I have subverted the moral virtues of the Yorùbá nation, elevating frauds and crooks like me into limelight and political offices to fleece its people and destroy the infrastructures. It shall be told how I have rigged elections in the State of Oshogbo to install my nephew and intimidated the people into silence and acquiescence.
When 2023 comes, the world shall come to know my true age. They would be told how my nephew is 63 years old and his Mother, who is my immediate older sister is three years older than me. The world shall find out that I have been using false age all along and that everything packaged about me has been a fraud. The world shall find out that not a strand of me has a scintilla of truth or honesty.
When 2023 comes, it shall be told in unburnished terms, my roles in bringing the Yorùbá nation to its knees, making it dysfunctional with my foot soldiers rampaging the treasuries of the Southwest States, with the hospitals becoming slaughter slabs, industries dying, education decaying and everything becoming disjointed, while I and my cronies get richer.
When 2023 comes, the world shall come to know about my sinister plans to destroy the House of Awo. Yes, the House that Awolowo built by hiring professional revisionists, morally calcified, intellectually compromised, hungry writers to attack Mrs. Dideolu Idowu Awolowo. It shall be told to the world, how I deployed my paid media hirelings to attack the heroes of the modem Yorùbá Nation, those who gave their sweat, knowledge, energy and other endowments to build the Yorùbá nation which I am consciously and deliberately leading into slavery.
When 2023 comes, the world shall come to know how my cronies planted flowers across Yorùbá land at the cost of billions to defraud the Yorùbá people calling such, achievements. The world shall know how one kilometer of road that cost a little over N400m in other states was costing over N1bn in Southwest States and yet was not durable and becoming death traps within months of its completion. All the roles I played with the connivance of my cronies across Yorùbá land shall come to the knowledge of the world.
When 2023 comes, it shall be told, how, because of my ambition, I have handed my Yorùbá people into the slavery of Fulani hegemonists, securing my place in History as a perfect replica of Afonja, the man who caused an Emir to rule in a Yorùbá city of Ilorin instead of an Oba. Already, I have allowed a Fulani Emir in Lagos. I have completed, by that singular act, the subversion of the Yorùbá nation and the subjugation of a great race, the Yorùbá race. The world shall come to know how I have betrayed the confidence and trust of my Yorùbá people, over and over, by never being there for them at their greatest times of need.
When 2023 comes, the world shall be told the truth about my willingness to sacrifice my people, their husbands, their wives, their children, their families for my political ambition. It shall be told, how nothing is too sacred, how no Institutions is inviolate, how no life is precious, how no friendship is sanctified, how no crony is indispensable on the altar of my ambition.
When 2023 comes, the world shall come to know that no amount of blood is too much to be spilled, no amount of destruction would be too much to wrought on my Yorùbá people, no price would be too much to pay for my ambition to be realized. My Yorùbá people are created for me to use according to my whims and caprices. I don’t care for them. They know it. They now know all the tribulations I have brought to bear on them.
When 2023 comes, my role in installing the greatest tragedy on the Nigerian State to foster misery, tears, gnashing of teeth, hunger, want, squalor, agony, death, insecurity, social discombobulation and entire season of anomie shall be told to the world. Book by book, page by page, paragraph by paragraph and line by line, all my contributions to the destruction of social, economic and political instability of Nigeria in general and the Yorùbá nation in particular, shall be recorded for the world to know.
When 2023 comes, the truth shall be told, the whole truth and nothing but the truth about me to the world. I would make sure of that. The world shall come to see me as truly as I am – a fraud, a liar, a fake; duplicitous, greedy, amorphous, unreliable, untrustworthy, treacherous, traitorous, perfidious and fatally dangerous to contemplate.
When 2023 comes, my Yorùbá people shall see me in my true colours. They shall get to know finally that I am not worthy of their trust; that I would always use and dump them; that I don’t care about them except when usable for my ambition and that they have been believing in a mirage all along. That beyond myself, I have no plans for them or other Nigerians, whatsoever.
When 2023 comes…
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University Of Uyo Student, Three Others Missing Since December 1 Yet To Be Found As Police Refuse To Intervene
A 24-year old activist and student of Psychology at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Aniefiok Ekerete Johnson, is missing.
Aniefiok went missing along with three of his friends, Akaniyene Akpan, Stanley Isaac Ikono and Iduehe Johnson.
They are yet to be found despite a petition to the police.
According to their families, the four were last seen on December 1, 2019 at 5:30pm.
Johnson’s family said the Akwa Ibom State Police Command had refused to make any intervention nor attempted to search for the missing students.
They lamented that despite sending a petition to the Commissioner of Police in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Kenneth Ebrimson, informing him of the situation, he had not made any move even after acknowledging the receipt of the petition.
They also claimed that the police had not reacted more than one month after submitting it and demanding the safe return of the missing persons.
In the petition sent to the Akwa Ibom State Police Command dated December 30, 2019 and sighted by our correspondent, Johnson’s family pleaded to the police to help search for the missing son.
The petition reads, “Aniefiok Ekerete Johnson was last seen 07:30hrs on December 1, 2019 with three other friends (all students too) who are also missing.
“Efforts to trace his whereabouts through schoolmate, neighbours and some security agencies have proved abortive.
“Details of the missing Ekerete Johnson and the three other friends are Anjefiok Ekerete Johnson: (08127496823, 09029264877); Akaniyene Akpan (08171114886); Stanley Isaac Ikono (08126443284); and Nduehe Johnson (08024617630).
“It is our hope that you will your good offices into seeing that these missing individuals are found, and returned back safely.”
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Coronavirus: 1,523 Deaths Recorded In China
The National Health Commission reported 143 new deaths on Saturday with all but four in Hubei, raising the toll to 1,523.
According to AFP, the commission also reported 2,641 new cases of the COVID-19 strain, with the vast majority in Hubei.
The number however, was almost half those reported the previous day.
The scale of the epidemic swelled this week after authorities in Hubei changed their criteria for counting cases, adding thousands of new patients to their tally.
Previously, they were counting only cases with a positive lab test result but are now also including those “clinically diagnosed” through lung imaging.
Officials said the change was necessary to ensure that patients get treated early amid reports of backlogs in lab tests.
The revision added nearly 15,000 patients to Hubei’s tally on Thursday, with the World Health Organisation noting that cases going back weeks were retroactively counted.
“We’re seeking further clarity on how clinical diagnosis is being made to ensure other respiratory illnesses including influenza are not getting mixed into the COVID-19 data,” WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Friday.
There were over 4,800 cases reported in Hubei on Friday and 2,420 on Saturday.
The number of new confirmed cases has been steadily falling outside Hubei, with 221 infections reported on Saturday.
A top Chinese scientist had predicted that the epidemic could peak by the end of this month after the number of new cases had fallen earlier in the week.
The WHO cautioned that it was “way too early” to make any predictions about the disease’s trajectory.
Authorities said Friday 1,716 medical workers have been infected during the outbreak, with six dying from the illness.
Most of the infections among health workers were in Hubei’s capital, Wuhan, where many have lacked proper masks and gear to protect themselves in hospitals dealing with a deluge of patients.
The grim figures come a week after grief and public anger erupted over the death of a whistleblowing doctor, who had raised the alarm about the virus in December and been reprimanded and silenced by police in Wuhan.
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