New twist in Buhari’s certificate saga

A poster of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and presidential candidate of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) has been covered with a poster of leading opposition All Progressive Congress presidential candidate Mohammadu Buhari along the  ~ PIUS UTOMI EKPEI

 

Abuja - The controversy trailing the academic qualifications of the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mohammadu Buhari, has taken a new dimension, reports Naij.

The army has distanced itself from claims that Buhari’s school leaving certificate was never in its records.

The Nigerian Army spokesperson who addressed a press conference on Tuesday to announce that the army could not find Buhari’s school leaving certificate in its records was not authorize to speak on the issue as he had been redeployed from that post.

Buhari expected to address a world press conference on Wednesday to clarify the issue.

Read more at Naij.

Gunfire in DRC as protesters tell Kabila 'get out'

2015-01-21 13:57

Kinshasa - Gunshots were heard on Wednesday as police cracked down on a new student demonstration at Kinshasa's university following two days of bloody violence in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, an AFP reporter said.

Twenty eight people have been killed since Monday in anti-government protests, according to a local human rights organisation. The authorities put the death toll at five.

Protesters oppose a draft law that would enable President Joseph Kabila to extend his stay in power beyond his current mandate which ends in 2016.

Two shots rang out as dozens of students shouting "Kabila get out!" faced off against a small group of police officers. In the Ndjili neighbourhood, youths destroyed a police vehicle.

Dying regime
"This morning we're working all out again because there is a students' protest" at the university, police spokesman Israel Mutumbo said.

 "We are in the process of checking across the city because there are little groups [of possible demonstrators] forming."

On Tuesday, hundreds of youths torched a town hall in Ngaba, a southern neighbourhood of Kinshasa, while several prisoners escaped from a neighbouring building. Looters also made off with police guns stored at the site.

The army and police arrested at least 20 people as protesters hurled rocks at state buildings, public buses and even passing cars. Soldiers fired in the air to scare off looters who targeted a Chinese-owned store.
In Brussels, opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi urged the Congolese people to force a "dying regime" from power.

Tshisekedi, 82, who is recovering from illness in Belgium, has been in opposition since the 1960s, previously taking on the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko as well as Kabila's father Laurent-Desire Kabila.
AFP

'I want to join IS', missing Korean teen tweeted

2015-01-21 13:57

Seoul - A missing South Korean teenager suspected of joining the Islamic State group had a twitter account, "Sunni Mujahideen", on which he tweeted his desire to enrol with the militant group, police said on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old middle school dropout, identified only by his surname Kim, went missing in Turkey earlier this month, and there is speculation that he crossed into Syria.

"Many materials suggest that he was greatly interested in IS, but we cannot confirm whether he has joined them", Chung Jae-Il, a senior Seoul police officer told journalists.

If confirmed, it would be the first known case of a South Korean national joining any radical Islamist group.
The teen was last seen leaving his hotel in the southern Turkish city of Kilis - not far from the border - on 10 January.

A South Korean foreign ministry official said on Tuesday that CCTV footage obtained by Turkish police showed Kim taking an unlicensed taxi, together with an unidentified man, outside a mosque near his hotel.
They got out near a refugee camp in Besiriye, about 18km southeast from Kilis, the official said.

Police said Kim posted a series of messages on his Twitter account in October last year, asking for help in approaching the Islamic State group.

"How to join IS? Does anyone know? I want to join IS", he tweeted.

Kim's parents allowed him to travel to Turkey, along with a family friend, after he pleaded for the chance to meet with a friend there he had met online.
AFP

Japan nuclear plant worker dies after falling into tank

2015-01-20 11:15
Tokyo — A worker at Japan's wrecked nuclear power plant died after falling into a water storage tank, the latest in a growing number of accidents at the site still struggling to clean up the mess from the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant said the worker, 55, died of multiple injuries early Tuesday after falling through an opening atop a 10-meter (33-foot) high tank. He was one of three men inspecting the tank. Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the plant, says the cause of the accident is under investigation.


Currently, the plant's decades-long decommissioning involves nearly 7,000 workers. The number of injuries in the April to November period totaled 40 last year, compared to 12 a year earlier, underscoring growing concern about sloppy safety measures.

AP

France: 4 suspects face charges after attacks

2015-01-20 10:05
Paris — The Paris prosecutor's office says four men are facing preliminary charges after being arrested on suspicion of links to a gunman involved in France's deadliest terrorist attacks in decades.

The prosecutor's office said in a statement that five others arrested in the investigation were released without charge early Tuesday.

The four remaining suspects, all men in their 20s, will appear before an investigating judge later Tuesday. No other details were immediately available.

No one has been charged in the attacks Jan. 7-9 on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, a kosher market and police. Twenty people were killed, including the three gunmen, who claimed allegiance to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

- AP

Shock! Sultan of Sokoto will not vote!

Sokoto - The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III may not vote in the February general elections, reports Punch.

The reason being that the Independent National Electoral Commission has failed to issue him his Permanent Voter Card (PVC).

Speaking on Monday in Sokoto, when he played host to President Goodluck Jonathan, who was in the state in continuation of the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential campaign, Abubakar said the Federal Government must do everything within its powers to ensure that no eligible voter was disenfranchised.

He advised President Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari to base their campaigns on issues.

Read more at Punch.

Olejeme backs incumbent Jonathan for another term

President Goodluck Jonathan speaks to displaced people from Baga in a Maiduguri camp on January 15, 2015. Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan met survivors from what is thought to be Boko Haram's worst attack in its six-year insurgency. Hundreds of ~ OLATUNJI OMIRIN

 

Lagos - Chairperson of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Dr Ngozi Olejeme, heaped praise on President Goodluck Jonathan for the achievements of the current administration.

Olejeme, who is also Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee, Presidential Campaign Organization advised the electorate to lay emphasis on these strides ahead of next month’s presidential poll.

Speaking in Abuja, Olejeme said Jonathan, through his citizen oriented programmes and policies, not only rekindled the people’s confidence in civil rule but their hopes and aspiration for a better and prosperous future.

She praised the President for putting the people at the centre of the formulation of all government policies, providing facilities, encouraging women to participate in socio-economic and political activities in the country, promoting foreign investments, providing ample incentives and giving exemplary leadership to Nigerians.

The People’s Democratic Party chieftain also extolled him for confronting the country’s problems, diversifying the Nigerian economy, reducing retail prices of petroleum products to reflect the downscaling in global oil prices, establishing 12 conventional and two specialized universities and cleaning up the electoral process.

“The volumes of government programmes and projects are creating wealth and job opportunities, reviving collapsed business enterprises, stimulating agriculture and local food production,” the former gubernatorial aspirant said.

She urged Nigerians to give Jonathan the mandate to continue.

“Nigerians will have decent education, adequate medical care and affordable housing. Agriculture will continue to witness turn around. Youth employment and women empowerment will be given attention. Rapid results will be achieved in the economic sector. President Jonathan will ensure lasting peace through security and good governance,” Olejeme said.

“Jonathan will continue to deepen the mechanics of governance and service delivery. He will continue to give us the hope, optimism and the change we need. He will provide for the wellbeing of our people and look after the vulnerable. It's time for Nigerians to come together around one choice, one candidate, who we know will work for us.”

- CAJ News