Boko Haram slits civilians' throats in border town

2015-02-04 15:19
Yaound - Boko Haram fighters slit civilians' throats and torched the main mosque in the Cameroon border town of Fotokol during an attack on Wednesday repelled by regional forces, residents said.


"They burnt houses and killed civilians as well as soldiers," a source close to security forces said. Several residents said civilians' throats were slit and reported that the main mosque was burnt in the town along the Nigerian border.

- AFP

Aliyu denies endorsing Buhari

Minna - Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State on Tuesday denied endorsing the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC),  Muhammad Buhari in the February presidential election, reports NewsDay.

He accused Buhari of truncating his political ambition in 1983 when he overthrew the democratically elected government of President Shehu Shagari.

Apparently referring to some reports which listed Aliyu as one of the governors who was sympathetic to the candidature of Buhari, Aliyu noted that he believed in loyalty and would not leave his political party and support someone from another political party.

The governor said though the APC presidential candidate may be honest, his honesty may not translate to good public policies.

Read more at NewsDay.

Top Muslim body calls for crucifixion

2015-02-04 15:47

Cairo - Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's most prestigious centre of learning, expressed outrage at the Islamic State (ISIS) group for burning to death a captive Jordanian pilot, saying its militants deserve to be killed or crucified.

After a video was released showing the caged fighter pilot, Maaz al-Kassasbeh, dying engulfed in flames, the Cairo-based authority's head, Ahmed al-Tayib, expressed his "strong dismay at this cowardly act".
This "requires the punishment mentioned in the Qur'an for these corrupt oppressors who fight against God and his prophet: killing, crucifixion or chopping of the limbs."

"Islam forbids killing of the innocent human soul... It forbids mutilating the human soul by burning or in any other way even during wars against an enemy that attacks you," Tayib added in a statement.
ISIS itself has implemented such punishments against its own members for robbery at checkpoints or stealing funds from religious endowments in territories controlled by the group in Iraq and Syria.
AFP

Osinbajo slams Jonathan for attending Islamic meetings

Lagos - All Progressives Congress’ (APC) Yemi Osinbajo, slammed Jonathan for going to the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) gatherings, reports Naij.

Osinbajo stated that because Nigeria is not a Islamic state, as it has Christians as well, the president should not be going to IOC meetings, as the country is not a Islamic state.

President Jonathan had attended the OIC meeting, making him the first president to do so since Nigeria was surreptitiously enlisted by President Ibrahim Babangida in 1986.

Read more at Naij.

SDP adopts Jonathan

Abuja - Ahead of the February presidential election, the Social Democratic Party (SDP), on Tuesday, adopted the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), President Goodluck Jonathan, as its candidate in the election.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, the National Publicity Secretary of SDP, Dr Abdul Ahmed Isiaq, who is also the chairman of the seven-man Committee set up by the party to look among the 14 presidential candidates to decide the one to adopt and support in the election, declared that the SDP had finally settled for the candidature of President Jonathan in the race.

Dr Isiaq disclosed that, “the committee has unanimously recommended that SDP should endorse and support the President Jonathan to enable him complete the restructuring of the polity, based on the Report of the National Conference of 2014.

“The party has accepted this recommendation and hereby directs all its supporters and members, throughout the country, to vote for President Goodluck Jonathan in the presidential election of the February 14.”

He, however, pointed out that “this support is limited, strictly, to the presidential election and does not extend to any other election as the SDP is determined to contest and win all the elections for which it has sponsored candidates throughout the Federation and hereby become the credible alternative, which it aspires to be.”

-   NAN

Missing N30trn: Ribadu defends Okonjo-Iweala

2015-02-04 11:59
Abuja - Nuhu Ribadu, former Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday said alleged missing N30 trillion under the watch of Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was not possible.

Ribadu made this known in an interview in Abuja.

"I was baffled and got deluded for anyone to say that N30 trillion got lost. I think we just have to look at what we earn as a country and what our budget had been in these few years and see how possible it is.

"If everything we earned is not up to that within the period she has been the minister, which is about three to four years, then we need to be careful.

"We need to be careful to avoid more damage to our nation, because there are certain things that when it comes out, it will never go back again,’’ he said

He said that while working under former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, Okonjo-Iweala was the economic team leader and she coordinated the economic policy of the administration effectively.

"I challenge anybody to say that she stole N1 at that time; we were all there, I was in charge of EFCC and I want to hear anybody say that she did this and that.

"And, I followed her up till now. I think it is somehow uncharitable for someone to come out to say that such an amount of money was missing under her watch,’’ he said.

Ribadu, who is the governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa, said that controversies being raised about the nation’s economy was unfortunate, adding that Okonjo-Iweala was of impeccable integrity and well respected.

According to him, when I worked with her, she exhibited a nationalistic attitude that was not questionable and believed in any policy that could take Nigeria and its people high.

"I am a little disturbed with what I have been hearing in the last couple of days where many things are being said and some are totally out of placed with some of the result we have achieved in the economy.

"I believe that even if people are not together working as a team, we still exhibit honour. In our team, she did well,’’ he said.

The former EFCC boss advised that people must advocate for things that were geared towards the unity of the country and avoid controversies that would cause more harm to the system.

According to him, the volatility in the price of oil in the global market is beyond anybody’s control in Nigeria.

He urged Nigerians to help preserve the country’s models who were globally respected, adding that Okonjo-Iweala remained one Nigerian with global recognition of high integrity.

NAN

Asari Dokubo issues fresh threat to attack Buhari

Yenogoa - Ex Niger- Delta militant and leader of the Niger Delta Volunteers Force, Asari Dokubo, has issued a fresh threat to attack the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Muhammadu Buhari.

In a new video obtained by Sahara Reporters, Dokubo also threatened Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers and former governor of Bayelsa State Timi Sylva.

Dokubo, who issued the fresh threat in Bayelsa state while mobilizing voters for President Jonathan in the upcoming February 14 presidential election, also warned voters from the Niger Delta region against voting for anybody except Jonathan.