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Fatal Accident Along Calabar Road Left Teenage School Girl Dead

 

A shocking and fatal road accident has claimed the life of a school girl leaving her totally unrecognizable and her intestines exposed.

A mechanic has crushed a school girl to death along Calabar highway yesterday.
Two of her siblings were rushed to the hospital after sustaining life threatening injuries.

It was reported that the accident occurred close to Obioko Ijiman in Ugep, Yakurr LGA.

The Honda Accord car with plate number AWK 638 AE was driven by one Mr. Etowa, a mechanic apprentice who was testing the car after effecting some repair work on the vehicle.

It was gathered that Etowa veered off his lane unto the opposite lane and first crushed two chickens before he lost control and rammed into a group of students who were returning from school at about 3.12pm.

People Are Trying To Turn Buhari Against Me - Fr. Mbaka Crys Out

 

It no longer news that the Catholic Priest of Enugu, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, said Thursday that some Nigerians were trying to cause disaffection between him and Buhari. Said contrary to earlier media reports that he made negative predictions concerning the President’s ill health, he merely alluded to the reported claims by doctors.
    He said Nigerian doctors had expressed fears over the chances of President Muhammadu Buhari recovering from his illness.‎ But, according to him, he prayed against that.
    The priest, who is in charge of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Nigeria, spoke through his media Chief, Barr Ike Maximus Ugwuoke.
    According to him, “‎our attention has been drawn to a report in a section of the media alleging that Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka the Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria said that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has slim chances of surviving from his ill health.
    “The true fact is that there were media reports, making fuss about Mr President’s health and insinuating Mr President‘s slim chances of recovering from his ill health, published immediately the president went on vacation.
    “Fr Mbaka referring to the said media report during his prayers for the sick in the ministry prayed with the worshippers of the ministry for Mr President’s healing and health after which there were lots of testimonies from the sick that were healed of blindness, elephantiasis, deafness, cancer, tumor and all other diverse healings at the end of the prayer session.”
    He quoted Mbaka as saying: “They say the sickness is E.N.T. When it affects, the ear, it affects the nose and affects the neck. We pray for our President and any one that is suffering such a dangerous disease.
    “We lift our healing hands for divine healing upon our president. Wherever he is, may he be healed in Jesus name.
    “The doctors in Nigeria are nursing fear that he may not survive but we have a healing God. His name is specialist in impossibilities.”
    He added that some ‎persons were nose-diving in the affairs of the ministry with a view to causing unnecessary rift between the ministry and the presidency.

Recession: Food Thieves Invades Kwara State

 

The resultant effects of the stinging hardship occasioned by the present economic recession in the country, the spate of insecurity is rising and taking a tinge of the ridiculous by the day.

    In Kwara State, cooking a pot of soup is now an invitation to robbers, as cases of eagle-eyed hungry men absconding with cooked food still on the fire is now a daily occurrence.

    The incident is widespread in areas without perimeter fencing and among women who cook or have opted to cook with coal pots. At each of such areas such as Tanke, Basin, Sango, Offa Garage, and Kilanko, the incident according to The Guardian investigations occurred over five times in just a week.

    According to Alhaja Hamidalat Olawale at Sango, “I was cooking around 5.00p.m. in readiness for the breaking of the fast for the day. It was beans and I decided to use coal pot at the open backyard. I had added all the food condiments and was waiting for the broth to dry up. But to my greatest surprise, I did not see the pot of the beans again.

    “I was shocked discovering this. What amazed me was that the thief did not come for it before it was ready; he or she came when the food was ready and we were already salivating, meaning the person must have been closely monitoring me.”

    Another victim, an undergraduate of the University of Ilorin, Anita Bazuaye, said it was her pot of soup that disappeared beside her window.

    “It was painful because as a student, it was difficult for me to get money again for another soup. In fact, when I managed to start cooking again, I did not leave the place until I had securely packed the pot inside my room.”

    Reacting to the development, the Police spokesman, Ajayi Okasanmi (ASP), said no formal report to that effect had come to him or anyone within the state command, but warned that “it is a serious matter and we will not take it lightly with anyone caught in the act. The Penal Code frowns at theft and we will treat anyone in the act accordingly.”

    A former chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in the state, Emmanuel Ayeoribe, said the development could not be divorced from the non-payment of workers’ salaries.

    “If nothing is urgently done to commence regular payment of salaries, very soon, people will start leaping over the fence to steal food, not just from unfenced quarters,” he warned.

Buhari Laments: Please Help Me Beg N'Delta Militant, They Use High-Tech Weapons

 

Buhari has asked leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to help him pacify rampaging militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

Lamenting the effect of attacks on oil installations, the president said the country does not need such a distraction at this point in time.

He said the militants were in possession of sophisticated equipment, adding that unlike the Boko Haram sect which has one faction, the militants are in so many groups, suggesting that government has been having challenges relating with them.

Buhari was speaking on Friday, at the breaking of fast dinner with the APC leadership at the presidential villa in Abuja.

“I honestly don’t know how many factions the militants are in the Niger Delta compared to the north-east where you have the Boko Haram,” he said.

“The technology being deployed by the militants to destroy oil installations is high-tech, the way they can go on high sea and international waters and target oil installations is a national problem. It is affecting development.

“No insurance company will want to insure installations that will end up being blown up and no banks will want to finance such installations.

“Those of you who have friends among the leadership or even the militants themselves should plead with them in the name of God ‎Almighty to take it easy.

“We are in a very difficult time, so we have to organise ourselves. Anybody that says he has any other country than Nigeria should go out and see.”

He expressed delight that the primary election in Edo state was successful, and said close attention would be paid to Ondo state, which is next in line.

“The successful conduct of APC primaries in Edo state gave me a new hope,” he said.

“We are going to watch Ondo very closely, we have to ensure that the vote of the people count.”

John Oyegun, national chairman of the party, said the APC was pleased with the achievements of the president so far.

Oyegun, who acknowledged that Nigeria was passing through a difficult time, said “change does not come cheap or easily”.

“Things must change. Those things don’t come easily. Nigeria is clearly a difficult nation to govern,’’ he said.

Those at the event were former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; Ghali Na’aba, former speaker of the house of representatives; Segun Oni, the party’s deputy national chairman (south), and Timipre Sylva, former Bayelsa state governor.

Chaos As Federal Medical Center Drags 121 Dead Bodies To Court

 

Mild drama played out at the Federal High Court in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State yesterday, when the court clerk read out a case between the Federal Medical Centre, Ovom in Yenagoa and 121 unclaimed corpses.

Lawyers and those who were in the courtroom were still in shock when Justice Ajiya Nganjiwa sought to douse the jolted occupants of the courtroom.

“Now everybody is afraid because they have mentioned corpses,” the judge joked.

But the lawyer to FMC, Bayelsa, Mr. K. Clement, prayed the court to grant his 14-paragraph application requesting that the hospital should be given the go-ahead to give the unclaimed corpses a mass burial.

After listening to the argument backing the application, the judge concurred, stating that it was “time to allow the dead rest in peace”.

“The application is hereby granted for all the 121 abandoned corpses to be buried. All agencies and bodies involved must comply with this order,” he said.

The federal hospital had argued that the corpses would get a mass burial if the relatives of the deceased did not collect them.

THISDAY gathered that many of the bodies had been abandoned for over 10 years, thereby blocking space for fresh corpses.

Dr. Dennis Allagoa, Chief Medical Director (CMD) of FMC, Yenagoa, had earlier explained that the decision, among others, was taken to create space in the mortuary as fresh corpses were being brought in on a daily basis.

He also cited pollution of the health facility as reason for the decision to evacuate the cadavers in the next three weeks.

“We issued a 21-day public notice because we noticed that corpses have littered the entire mortuary and there was no space to take in new corpses.

“As the decay goes on in the mortuary, the corpses have become a threat to human life because chemical and biochemical effects are on-going.

“So we want to clean up the area so that people can enjoy the benefit of a good site and space to bring in their corpses,” the CMD said.

Dr. Allagoa added that most of the unclaimed corpses were deposited by security personnel while others were found on the roads and creeks and brought to the morgue.

“A lot of them were corpses that were deposited by the security agents. Most of them are just bones, legs; they are not actually full body parts.

“People that died on the road, they brought them, from the river they brought them. People that died due to militancy, they brought them in their mass and they kept them here,” Allagoa explained.

Gov. Fayose To Aisha Buhari: Take A Trip To US To Prove Your Innocence

 

Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State has challenged Nigeria’s First Lady, Hajia Aisha Buhari, to travel to the United States of America to prove her innocence in the Halliburton scam.

Fayose said this on Wednesday in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, insinuating that Hajia Buhari has been avoiding travelling to the US in order to evade arrest.

Fayose had on Monday said Hajia Buhari was the person indicted by a US Court for transferring $170,000 to indicted US Congressman, Williams Jefferson, in the Halliburton scandal.

Though several sources had said she was not the one, Fayose insisted that Hajia Buhari had more to reveal than she had agreed to.

He said that was why she had refused to travel with her husband, President Muhammadu Buhari, on the three occasions he had visited the US since assuming power.

He also said rather than attend a conference to which she was invited, Hajia Buhari sent Toyin, the wife of the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.

Fayose said in the statement by Adelusi on Wednesday that if the President’s wife was certain she was not the one indicted in the Halliburton scandal, she should visit the United States of America to convince Nigerians.

He said: “It is on record that the President has visited USA three times and his wife did not travel with him. Equally, she ought to have visited USA last year September to chair a United Nations programme but she sent wife of the Senate President, Mrs Toyin Saraki to represent her.”

US Govt: Nigeria EFCC Has Authentic Proof To Procecute Aisha Buhari, Atiku And Others

 

The Haliburton scandal involving prominent Nigerians and disgraced congressman Williams J. Jefferson, is still a hot topic

– The United States has said the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has all it needs to prosecute all those implicated in the scandal including

– Wife of the president, Mrs Aisha Buhari and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar are one of those mentioned in the scandal

A report by Point Blank news has revealed that the United States of America has furnished the EFCC with all the details it needs to prosecute implicated Nigerians in the Halliburton scandal.

According to the report, Peter Carr, spokesman of the DOJ confirmed the sentencing memo of Jefferson which indicted Mrs Buhari, Atiku and others but declined to speak further on the issue in an email.

Wife of the president, Hajiya Aisha Buhari’s name has featured in the Halliburton scandal time and again.

A source in DOJ also squealed that because Jefferson is currently appealing some of his convictions, DOJ may not want to comment further on the matter.
Meanwhile, the sentencing memorandum obtained from the U.S District Court Eastern District of Virginia listed as exhibit, a wire transfer to congressman Jefferson from an account owned by Mrs Buhari.

US Congressman William Jefferson is currently in jail for the Halliburton scandal

A 16-count indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, charged Jefferson with solicitation of bribes from Nigeria and other places, honest services wire fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, racketeering, and conspiracy.

The indictment alleges that from in or about August 2000 through in or about August 2005, Jefferson, while serving as an elected member of the U.S. House of Representatives, used his position and his office to corruptly seek, solicit and direct that things of value be paid to Jefferson and his family members in exchange for his performance of official acts to advance the interests of people and businesses who offered him the bribes.

The U.S Justice Department had at the time requested the EFCC through a letter dated June 22, 2006 to investigate Mrs Buhari and several others linked with bribing congressman Jefferson.

Mrs Buhari, Atiku Abubakar, Dumebi Kachikwu (brother to current minister of petroleum, Ibe, Otunba Fashawe (close associate of former President Olusegun Obasanjo), Aliyu Maigari and others were named in a long chain of Nigerian and American bribe takers that spirited about $45 million—for a technology transfer deal—to the US between 1996 and 2002.

Atiku, chairing of the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), then, was, alongside congressman Jefferson, Siemens, Halliburton, and others, indicted in a U.S. Senate report sent to the EFCC for investigation in 2006.

The U.S Senate report, FBI reports and U.S Court papers on the allegations have remained with the EFCC as the anti-graft agency appears to have developed cold feet in prosecuting the Nigerians involved.

Among other things, U.S Investigators had in 2006 asked the EFCC to investigate bank records of accounts managed by Mrs Buhari. They specifically asked that the bank records should include documents relating to any wire transfers of $10,000 or more.

Jefferson is currently serving jail time in the US,while those linked to his crime are still being sort after for questioning especially in Nigeria.

A source confirmed that while Kachikwu had offered to testify against Jefferson, Mrs Buhari stayed away from the FBI probe and has also stayed away from the U.S.

Interestingly, since President Muhammadu Buhari was elected as Nigeria’s leader, Mrs Buhari has never followed him to his numerous U.S trips.

The U.S Senate report, FBI reports and U.S Court papers on the allegations have remained in the coolers of the EFCC as the agency appears to be lacking the political will to carrying on the prosecution.

"Politicians Are Soiling My Name", Ms Aisha Buhari Alleged Impostor Crys Out

 

Ms Aisha Buhari has finally broken silence on her alleged involvement in the Halliburton bribery scandal.

Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose had claimed on Monday that the wife of the President was linked to the scandal which an American member of Congress was jailed for 13 years in 2009.

However, the lady who shares the same name with the President’s wife, said she was not the person referred to in the bribery scandal.
Ms Buhari, speaking exclusively with The Street Journal Tuesday night, said she was never involved in the scandal and linking her name with it was most malicious and wicked.

According to Ms Buhari, the allegation “is like pouring water on a sleeping person. I have never done anything with Halliburton, I don’t know the colour of the company. I am not in the line of business with Halliburton, so linking me with the bribery is wicked”, she fumed.

Speaking further, Ms Buhari said the details contained in the write up, which were displayed side by side with the story were croned from her stolen passport.

“They are desperate to cover their dirty track and link my name with the scandal that they have to first of all steal my passport. My passport was stolen early this year. And to give credibility to their story, details from the passport were used. They should come to the US, to find out If they are curious about the case”, she said.

She reminded her detractors that once a crime is committed in the US such a person is brought to book, noting that she is a member of organisations in the US and she goes in and out of the States at will.

“If somebody commits crime in the US, he or she must face trial. Have you heard I am being tried in the US?”, she queried.

She continued:”Let them stop this malicious allegation against me that they do not have proof of, I hate people who do not cross check facts before talking, they should find out in the US the kind of person I am beause I belong to organisations there”, she said.

“If they think they are politician and can break the law and go free, they should realise that nobody is above the laws of a country including me”, she asserted.
On whether she is going to take legal action, she said:”I am talking with my Lawyers, they will determine that”, she summed.

Late Muhammed Ali Was With Late Michael Jackson Many Yrs Back (pic)

 

The legend lives on...

Formal Super Eagles Coach, Amodu Shuaibu Is Dead

 

NFF Technical Director, Amodu Shuaibu has died at the age of 58.
The four - time Coach of the Super Eagles complained of chest pains on Friday night and died in his sleep. RIP
Amodu Shuaibu's death comes three days after that of former Super Eagles Captain and Coach, Stephen Keshi.

Faces of The Kano Bloodthirsty Murderers of Mrs Bridget Agbahime

 

It was reported that one Bridget Agbahime was tragically murdered by a rampaging, bloodthirsty mob in Kano’s Kofar Wambai Market. She was allegedly accused of blaspheming the Prophet Mohammed before being clubbed to death.

The bloodthirsty man who led the theme of murderers, Dauda Ahmad is pictured below with his cohorts.

The dastardly act sparked national outrage and calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, including the first citizens of Nigeria and Kano, President Muhmmadu Buhari and Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano respectively.

However, the police in Kano arraigned five men namely; Dauda Ahmad, Abdullahi Mustapha, Zubairu Abubakar, Abdullahi Abubakar and Musa Abdullahi before Chief Magistrate Court on a four-count charge.

The suspects were charged with incitement, culpable homicide and mischief, based on sections 144, 80, 51 and 327 of the penal code.

Dauda Ahmad, who is the prime suspect, was accused of leading others to attack and hacks Mrs. Agbahime to death.

If found guilty, Mr. Ahmad could face the death penalty.

More reports coming shortly...

Babangida, Back To Nigeria After Medical Trip Abroad

 

General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd) has returned to Nigeria. He arrived the Minna International airport Friday in a private aircraft.

IBB, who was rumoured to have died in some media, arrived around 3:30pm from Germany in a chartered aircraft with number N550 DR after a medical trip and was wearing ‎a black kaftan and black cap to match.

The former Military President was in company of his son, Aminu, and daughter, Halima, and was welcomed at the airport by his first son, Mohammed, daughter Aisha, former governor, Abdulkadir Kure, Umar Ndanusa and former federal permanent secretary Idris Adamu Kuta.

He was immediately driven straight to his Hilltop Mansion, where one of his personal assistants, hinted that IBB would brief the press later.

Incidentally, in a phone call to a private television station in Lagos a few days ago, IBB had allayed fears of his demise and had said that he would be returning to the country on Sunday.

Angry Mob Killed Policeman Who Shot And Killed An Okada Man In Uromi

 

Mob threw caution to the wind this evening around Mission Road, Uromi, Edo state.

Eye witness accounts that a police officer allegedly shot and killed an okada man around Union Bank close to main market.
The Mobs who didn't find it funny bounced on the police officer and melted out jungle justice on him, killing him instantly. Other policemen who were within the area fled to safety for fear of being lynched.
More details coming shortly.

NDA Militants Bomb NPDC Facilities And Threatened To Brake Away From Nigeria

 
The attacks on oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta continued Thursday evening with the bombing of a pipeline belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.

Sources told one of our informants that the incident happened at 7:40pm around the Shalomi Creek in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State.

Multiple security sources in the area confirmed the incident to one of our correspondents at about 8:50pm.

No group, including the Niger Delta Avengers, which has claimed responsibility for series of attacks on oil facilities in the past, has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s incident.

The commander, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta, Commodore Riami Mohammed, when contacted at about 9:09pm, denied knowledge of the incident. He promised to investigate and get back to our correspondent but had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.

But a senior military officer, who spoke on condition anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the issue, confirmed the development.

The source said details of the incident were still sketchy due to the time it took place.

The Niger Delta Avengers had earlier on Thursday threatened to secede from the country, saying that successive governments had been unfair to the people of the Niger Delta region.

It said that what the people of the Niger Delta had been asking for from successive governments in Nigeria was the provision of basic amenities and inclusiveness.

The group called on the international community, especially Britain, France, United States, Russia and China not to allow the region to go the way of Sudan.

In a statement issued by its spokesperson, Murdoch Agbinibo, the NDA maintained that all that successive governments wanted was the flow of crude oil from the region and not its development.

It vowed to remedy the age-long devastation against the region with every means necessary.

It said in the statement, “Since the amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914 to date, our resources have been used to sustain the political administrative livewire of Nigeria to the exclusion of the Niger Delta.

“Finally, we are calling on the international community to come and support the restoration of our right to peaceful self-determination from this tragedy of 1914 that has expired since 2014.

“We want our resources back to restore the essence of human life in our region for generations to come because Nigeria has failed to do that. The world should not wait until we go the Sudan way. Enough is enough.

“This history of terror, we the Niger Delta Avengers will resist and correct with every means necessary. We have nothing to lose in the battle ahead.”

It added, “Justice, they say, is only found within the structure of a nation state; rather than provide justice, the Nigerian government has decided to mobilise her military might to intimidate, torture, maim, victimise and bombard a section of the nation and her citizenry to allow the free flow of our oil.

“Since the day crude oil was discovered in commercial quantity and quality in Oloibiri in the present day Bayelsa State, what we have being asking from successive governments in Nigeria is potable drinking water, electricity, roads, employment, quality education, resource control and inclusive governance.”

The threat of secession came just as crude oil production in the country suffered further threats with the Trans Niger Pipeline, one of two major pipelines transporting the Bonny Light crude grade for export, being shut.

The TNP, which is operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited, was shut on Wednesday after a leak was found, a Shell spokesperson told one of our correspondents on Thursday.



“We are conducting a joint investigation visit comprising officials of the SPDC, the regulators and the communities to determine the cause of the leak and the volume affected,” he said.

One source referring to a memo sent out to participants in the TNP said it was expected to be down for at least a week and would see around 130,000 barrels per day of production shut-in, according to Reuters.

The shutdown comes just as repairs were completed on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line that also moves the major export grade.

In early May, force majeure, a legal clause that allows companies to cancel or delay deliveries due to unforeseen circumstances, was declared by Royal Dutch Shell on Bonny Light exports after the NCTL was closed.

The TNP transports around 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the Bonny Export Terminal and is part of the gas liquids evacuation infrastructure, critical for continued domestic power generation at the Afam VI power plant, and liquefied gas exports, Shell said on its website.

The United States’ Energy Information Administration on Thursday said the massive wildfire in Canada, militant attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria, political strife in Libya and power outages complicated by bad weather in Iraq cut an average of 3.6 million barrels of oil a day from the global crude supply in May.

The EIA said May’s unplanned disruptions were the largest since the agency began tracking the date in 2011.

The wildfire in Canada’s oil sands region knocked an average of 800,000 bpd out of production, with a peak disruption of 1.1 million barrels. Production began coming back online earlier this month.

Nigeria’s production averaged a drop of 800,000 bpd in May as militant attacks increased on oil and natural gas facilities. Production from the country fell to its lowest level since the 1980s, according to the EIA.

End Time: London's First Unclad Restaurant Now Open

 

A restaurant where people shed their clothes to dine in the Unclad has thrilled diners on its first service in London.

The Bunyadi, set to open to the public on June 11, is London's first Unclad restaurant, offering an entirely natural eating experience, free from the trappings of modern life.

This includes phones, electric lights and even clothing.

A 42-capacity venue, it currently has almost 44,000 people on its waiting list, but it's only open for three months.

The first diners at the undisclosed venue - invited as part of its 'soft opening' - have praised the food, ambiance and freedom as they shed their threads.

Harriet Starling wrote on the restaurant's Facebook page: "I didn't want it to end! Was absolutely incredible - every moment.

"Pure freedom, the best staff and atmosphere, flawless food. To whoever gets to go, you will never forget it."

The Bunyadi, London's Unclad Restaurant
Another, Lizzie West, wrote: "I felt so relaxed, comfortable, free!... it just worked."

Others said the food was "inspired" and "delicious" and the the whole experience was "perfection".

Yoann Belmere reviewed his trial meal, writing: "You enter a cocktail bar and after a cocktail you're invited to change into a comfortable gown before being led to the atmospheric restaurant area where tables are separated by bamboo curtains, see-through to stimulate the brain but hidden enough to feel in your private booth.

"The raw food was exquisite too! Highly recommended with a group of friend or for a unusual experience with your special someone!"

The Bunyadi, London's Unclad Restaurant
The venue also offers a "clothed" section for those who don't wish to drop their drawers before dining.

The eatery is the latest idea from Lollipop, the people behind the Breaking Bad-inspired cocktail bar ABQ.

Guests at Bunyadi restaurant - which means fundamental, base or natural - enjoy wood-flame grilled meals served on handmade clay crockery and edible cutlery.

The Bunyadi, London's Unclad Restaurant
Lollipop founder Seb Lyall said: "We believe people should get the chance to enjoy and experience a night out without any impurities: no chemicals, no artificial colours, no electricity, no gas, no phone and even no clothes if they wish to.

"The idea is to experience true liberation.”

"We have worked very hard to design a space where everything patrons interact with is bare and Unclad," Seb continued.

"The use of natural bamboo partitions and candlelight has enabled to us to make the restaurant discreet."

FX Scarcity: Naira Now Sells For N371 To A Dollar

 
The continuing pressure on the naira rose sharply on Wednesday with the local currency tumbling to a new low of 371 against the United States dollar at the parallel market. It had closed at 361 per dollar on Tuesday.

The delay by the Central Bank of Nigeria in explaining how the proposed flexible exchange policy will work has increased speculation on the currency.

Foreign exchange dealers and investors said the delay had caused uncertainty in the foreign exchange market and fuelled hoarding of hard currencies.

According to foreign exchange dealers at black markets in Lagos, Abuja and major airports across the country, the dollar was sold for between 367 and 373 on Wednesday.

Findings from various operators revealed that the local currency went for 371 against the greenback in most of the parallel market locations.

Abokifx.com, an online portal that monitors the movement of exchange rates at the parallel market, reported that the naira closed at 367 against the dollar.

However, the currency traded at 199.40 to the dollar on the official interbank market, within the CBN’s pegged rate band.

“Demand for the greenback has increased amidst growing scarcity as uncertainties created by the new policy have caused individuals to start to stock dollars,” the National President, Association of Bureau De Change Operators, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, told Reuters on Wednesday.

Economic analysts said heightened political risks, evolving economic crisis and the CBN’s delay in unveiling its blueprint on the proposed forex policy were responsible for the fast depreciating rate of the naira at the parallel market.

An economic analyst and Chief Executive Officer of Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, said, “Foreign investors are fast losing confidence in the economy, seeing that they cannot bank on what the central bank says. It is almost two weeks now since the announcement of a new policy and yet, the blueprint has not been unveiled.

“Secondly, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, just said that oil production had fallen significantly as a result of the disruption in the Niger Delta; this means a major drop in our forex earnings. So, this is an evolving economic crisis.”

Other analysts said the value of the local currency was dipping because customers were trying to hedge against a possible depreciation when the CBN clarifies its new forex policy.

The naira had closed at 357 against the greenback on Monday, before crashing to 361 on Tuesday.

The CBN had recently said it would abandon its naira peg to the dollar and introduce a flexible currency exchange regime.

It has not said how this will work, a situation that has unsettled investors who are worried about getting caught in the middle of a devaluation.

The CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee had two weeks ago announced the plan to adopt a flexible exchange rate. The Governor, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said the blueprint for the proposed policy would be released soon.

The delay has, however, caused the stock market to record huge losses after recording landmark gains following the announcement of the plan to adopt the policy.

The central bank banned dollar sales to retail Bureaux De Change in January and reduced supply at its official interbank forex market in an effort to conserve reserves, now at their lowest level.

Manchester United Signs Eric Bertrand Bailly

 
Manchester United is delighted to announce that Eric Bertrand Bailly has completed his transfer from Villarreal CF, subject to successfully obtaining a work permit. Eric joins on a four-year contract with the option to extend for a further two years.

Bailly, 22, made 47 appearances for Villarreal since joining on 29 January 2015. The Ivory Coast central defender has made 15 appearances for his country and was part of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations-winning team, having appeared in all six matches during the competition.

Bailly said: "It is a dream come true to be joining Manchester United. To play football at the highest level is all I have ever wanted to do.

"I want to progress to be the best that I can be and I believe working with Jose Mourinho will help me develop in the right way and at the right club. I am looking forward to meeting my new team-mates and to starting this new chapter of my life."

Mourinho said: "Eric is a young central defender with great natural talent. He has progressed well to date and has the potential to become one of the best around.

"We look forward to working with him to help nurture that raw talent and fulfil his potential. Eric is at the right club to continue his development."
 

New Militant Group 'Ultimate Warriors of Niger Delta' Emerges, Demands 60% Oil Bloc

 

A new militant group, Ultimate Warriors of Niger Delta, has emerged with a threat to continue to attack oil and gas facilities across the Niger Delta region unless the Nigerian government agreed to award 60 per cent oil blocs to the people of the region.

The new group which spoke for the very first time on Wednesday also demanded that the federal government allow the $16 billion Export Processing Zone otherwise called Delta Gas City project begin operations in earnest.

It, however, gave the government a two-week ultimatum to ensure that their demands were adequately met for a lasting ceasefire in the region.

Spokesperson of Ultimate Warrior, as it chose to be addressed, Sibiri Taiowoh, in a statement obtained by our correspondent, said if the FG truly wants peace in the region, it should award 60 per cent oil bloc to indigenous people from the region as its primary demand for a ceasefire.

The group further asked for commencement of academic activities at Federal Maritime University established during the regime of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Warning further, it said failure to meet its demands, would warrant total shutting down of vital oil facilities including Chevron BOP, Okan Platform, MEREN Gas Gathering Compression Platform and Chevron Tank Farm.

The statement added, “We are also behind the recent pipeline bombing in the Niger Delta region and I can assure you we will not stop until the EPZ project and the Maritime University are totally completed and start operations.

“We want to be the ones to be safe guarding oil pipeline in our area so as to create more jobs for our people. We would resist any attempt to give surveillance contracts of pipeline in our backyard to foreigners. We want the pipeline jobs to be given to our indigenous people.”

“We also want 60 per cent of the oil blocs to be allocated to the Niger Deltans just as the Federal Government has also allocated 80 per cent to those who are not from the oil producing area and just as 50 per cent of the resource was used to develop the non-oil area when we were producing cocoa and groundnut as main economic resources, the same 50 percent should be use to develop the Niger Delta region because we are the ones suffering the brunt of oil pollution and degradation in the region”, it further added.

Source Punch

Nigerian Air Force 2016 Names Shortlisted For Recruitment

 

Nigerian Air Force has published the list of shortlisted candidates for 2016 NAF Recruitment Interview. If you applied,  click on the links below to download the list in PDF.

For Batch "A": Click here to download list.

For Batch "B": Click here to download list.

The Final selection Board for NAF 2016 Recruitment Exercise will commence in two batches from 8 JUNE 2016 at NAF Base Kaduna.

The First Batch will cover the following states: Abia, Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ebonyi,Ekiti, Enugu, FCT, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa and Kaduna

The Second Batch will cover the following states. Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara

NOTE: THE FINAL SELECTION BOARD FOR NAF 2016 RECRUITMENT EXERCISE IS SCHEDULED TO HOLD ON THE FOLLOWING DATES:
First Batch: 8 - 16 JUNE 2016
Second Batch: 17 - 24 JUNE 2016

Militants Vow To Bomb Aso-rock, Points Out Specific Targets

 
Dare devil Niger Delta Militant group, the Joint Niger Delta Liberation Force, on Monday reiterated its decision to unleash six missiles on the country.

The missiles would be released on Tuesday (which is tomorrow) according to source.

In a statement on Monday, the group named its targets, advising those occupying the buildings to vacate them.

Top on the list of the target of the militants, according to the statement, are the Presidential Villa in Abuja; the headquarters of the Department of State Services, also in Abuja; the Defence Headquarters, Abuja; National Assembly, Abuja; and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Towers, Abuja.

Others include the Police Headquarters in Abuja; Central Bank of Nigeria; headquarters of some multinational oil companies; and the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal headquarters.
The statement, signed by General Akotebe Darikoro, Commander, General Duties; General Torunanaowei Latei, Creeks Network Coordinator; General Agbakakuro Owei-Tauro, Pipelines Bleeding Expert; and General Pulokiri Ebiladei, Intelligence Bureau, said the decision to notify the occupants of the buildings to vacate them was because the aim of their struggle was not to destroy lives.

The statement, unedited, reads in full: “In our final meeting it was resolved that the Nigerian Communication Satellite Orbit should be shut down so that it will avoid the cause of electronic radiation to human lives.

“Also, the followings occupants of these buildings should as a matter of urgency vacate in them immediately IN THEIR OWN INTEREST to save their lives because our fight is not for ANY HUMAN BLOOD but to destroy all those infrastructures that were built with our oil and gas monies in this country. We will make federal government and oil companies to suffer as they have made the people of Niger Delta region suffers over the years from environmental degradation, and environmental pollution. They include:
1. STATE HOUSE, VILLA- ABUJA
2. DEFENCE HEADQUARTERS
3. DSS HEADQUARTERS
4. POLICE HEADQUARTERS
5. NATIONAL ASSENBLY
6. NNPC TOWERS
7. CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA
8. SUPREME COURT/APPEAL COURT
9. AGIP HEADQUARTERS, ABUJA
10. SHELL HEADQUARERS, LAGOS
11. CHEVRON HEADQUARTERS, LAGOS
12. EXXON MOBIL, LAGOS
13. NLNG, LAGOS & ABUJA OFFICES
14. KADUNA REFINERY
15. ALL MILITARY FORMATIONS IN ABUJA, LAGOS, KADUNA, BENUE, ETC.
“We shall fire these Missiles’ simultaneously at the night, as this will enable every Nigerians to see the movement of the MISSILES and equally to believe us of our seriousness attached to the final breakup as predicted by the United States of America (USA).


“We equally advise the Diplomatic Community to be neutral on this issue as wrong comments against us will be seen as saboteurs. Where they are staying presently will not be affected which is not part of our targeted areas of destruction in the country.


“We shall embarrass the self acclaimed Nigerian Air Force with their recent deployment of fighter aircraft, helicopter gunship and surveillance aircraft when at this digital age, countries are talking about Missile development, and they still condescend so low of their present obsolete equipment. This is sad indeed!”
“Note, we are going to destroy the ones they have deployed to Escravos, Forcados in Delta State; Bonga oil field, Agbami offshore and Brass in Bayelsa; Bony in Rivers; Qua Iboe Terminal in Akwa Ibom State, and Opuekeba in Ondo State if they fails to remove them before time. Our crack team has taken inventory of their equipments. Even the present suffering from a rare ear disease known as Meniere’s disease by President Muhammadu Buhari will not win any sympathy to save our action against the federal government. The name Nigeria as a country will come to an end this week.


“The so called military operations code named ‘OPERATION PULO SHIELD’ in the Niger Delta region who our partners in the oil bunkering activities, because presently without been told the former JTF Commander, Major-General Emmanuel Atewe who was arrested by the EFCC last week over pipelines surveillance contract amounts to N8.2 billion in the region, is an eye opener to the federal government that the military are fully involved in illegal bunkering in the area. They only destroy those who could not afford their bidding and further lobby to come to the Niger Delta region because of what they are gaining from the area.


“Imagine, an Army private’s and corporals from the North could build business plaza of 3 stories with several estate and other buildings including exotic cars to the detriment of the region? The Pharaoh of Nigeria (Buhari) should take the counsel of sycophants and jesters around him of the region especially Mr. Ayiri Emami and Professor Ita Sagey who are presently in our searchlight.

The founder of the Niger Delta Ex-Agitators, Israel Akpodoro, is a dead man and that he should not hide for linking former President, Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Seriake Dickson with the Avengers. We are not in ANY community, the Military can’t locate Tompolo but we have identified where he is now.

“Presently, Tompolo is in Libya and we’ll get him dead or alive for betraying us in supporting the federal government against us.

“Nigerian Military has weak intelligence gathering mechanism hence they could not identify our modu oparandi. Nigerian military is only good in carrying AK47 to harass innocent people and raping young girls and women.

“If the oil companies especially Shell and Chevron spents billions of naira to only undertake repairs of damaged oil and gas pipelines in the region, when such funds were better channeled for the payments of Bonga oil spill in 2011 and Chevron gas explosion in Koluama, Bayelsa state in 2012 would have saved them from these bombing and their present predicament would have been a thing of the past. Since they don’t want to hear, we’ll continue to break the pipelines until they do the needful for our old parents at home because that is the only language the companies and federal government hears in the country from the region
when such funds were better channeled for the payments of Bonga oil spill in 2011 and Chevron gas explosion in Koluama, Bayelsa state in 2012 would have saved them from these bombing and their present predicament would have been a thing of the past. Since they don’t want to hear, we’ll continue to break the pipelines until they do the needful for our old parents at home because that is the only language the companies and federal government hears in the country from the region.

Buhari Depart Nigeria To See Ear, Nose, Throat (E.N.T) Specialist In London

 


Owning to the embarrassing ear infection the President has been suffering for a while, he has decided to go on a 10days bed rest in London to see the E.N.T specialist.

Goodluck Jonathan Recounts His Pride In Ensuring Democratic Handover of Power in 7 African Countries

 
Our very own Dr GEJ was delivering a speech at Bloomberg and has this to say...


'My proudest moment was peaceful handover of power'

Since leaving office one year and one week ago, I have had the luxury of time to be able to reflect. I said before the last election that my political ambition was not worth the blood of one Nigerian. It is my sincerest wish that democracy continues to be consolidated in the continent of Africa. it has always been my consistent desire to help consolidate peace & cultivate democracy in Nigeria and across Africa. We will work for good governance by promoting credible and transparent elections, as well as peaceful power transfers.

The focus of my energies is to uphold democratic principles, promote peaceful transitions and support entrepreneurship: By providing an e-wallet to farmers which grew the percentage of registered farmers receiving subsidy from 11% to 94. This initiative improved food security, creating jobs and reducing inflation to its lowest levels in 5 years.

He also touched on his efforts on educating the populace and bringing government closer to the common man...
'I am proud of the fact that my Admin established a Fed Uni in the 12 States that did not previously have them. Money must go towards providing education for all, because we know that once citizens are educated, they have futures. Despite it not being the responsibility of the FG WE built hundreds of sec/pry schools across Nigeria.


And On Unity In Nigeria....

Equality promotes meritocracy, growth and security. Tribalism & regionalism should never be acceptable in Nigeria. We must go the next step and accept all Nigerians residing in any part of the country as equal citizens. Indigenes and residents must pay the same amount for school fees and social services all over the county. A Nigeria where you are judged on your merits and not your origins, A Nigeria where you can get the education you want and the future you choose. A Nigeria whose government serves the people and is not above the law. A place where we all work together, rather than allow ourselves to be divided by tribalism or prejudice, Nothing better sums up this vision for Nigeria than our national anthem, which sounds as good in prose as in song.
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