17:39 26/06/2015
Tunis - At least 19 people have been killed after at least one
gunman attacked a Tunisian tourist hotel in the popular resort of
Sousse, an interior ministry official said on Friday.
Details of
the attack, which a local security source at the scene and radio
reported was on the Imperial Marhaba hotel, were still emerging.
The
body of one gunman lay at the scene with a Kalashnikov assault rifle
after he was shot in an exchange of gunfire with police, the source
said.
Sousse is one of Tunisia's most popular beach resorts, drawing visitors from Europe and neighbouring North African countries.
Tunisia
has been on high alert since March when Islamist militant gunmen
attacked the Bardo museum in Tunis, killing a group of foreign tourists
in one of the worst attacks in a decade in the North African country.
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Saturday, 27 June 2015
Tribunal sacks Edo APC lawmaker
18:46 26/06/2015
Benin City - The Edo State Election Petitions Tribunal has upturned the election of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yakubu Gowon, as the lawmaker representing Etsako West II Constituency in the Edo State House of Assembly, reports PM News.
The tribunal in its ruling on Friday declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Gallant Sylvanus as the winner of the April 11 election.
Chairman of the tribunal, Justice E. Abuua in the judgement said APC candidate was not duly nominated by his party.
He noted that the APC’s notice of intention to hold party primaries, which he sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was less than the mandatory 21 days.
He said the notice was given on November 13, 2014, while the primaries was conducted on December 1, 2014.
He, therefore, declared that all the votes cast for the APC candidate was wasted as a result of which the first runner up who had 4001 votes was the rightful person to be declared winner of the election.
Read more at PM News.
Benin City - The Edo State Election Petitions Tribunal has upturned the election of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Yakubu Gowon, as the lawmaker representing Etsako West II Constituency in the Edo State House of Assembly, reports PM News.
The tribunal in its ruling on Friday declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Gallant Sylvanus as the winner of the April 11 election.
Chairman of the tribunal, Justice E. Abuua in the judgement said APC candidate was not duly nominated by his party.
He noted that the APC’s notice of intention to hold party primaries, which he sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was less than the mandatory 21 days.
He said the notice was given on November 13, 2014, while the primaries was conducted on December 1, 2014.
He, therefore, declared that all the votes cast for the APC candidate was wasted as a result of which the first runner up who had 4001 votes was the rightful person to be declared winner of the election.
Read more at PM News.
Bomber who ran away feeds fears extremists using captives
17:38 26/06/2015
Maiduguri - A teenage girl strapped with explosives ran away from a crowded mosque this week, killing only herself and cementing suspicions that Boko Haram is using unwilling captives in its terror campaign in Maiduguri.
The girl took off after her companion blew up in an explosion that killed 30 people on Monday in Maiduguri, the biggest city in northeast Nigeria, witnesses and a mortuary worker said.
"In the confusion of the blast, the other girl just ran away and only exploded when she was far from the crowd," said fishmonger Idi Idrisa.
It was unclear if the teenager fled in fright, fear or on purpose, but this and other bungled bombings have many believing that Nigeria's home-grown Boko Haram Islamic extremist group is using some of its thousands of kidnap victims as unwilling weapons.
A military bomb disposal expert has told The Associated Press that most bombs carried by girls and women have remote detonation devices, meaning the carrier cannot control the explosion.
The U.N. children's agency last month reported an "alarming spike" in suicide bombings by girls and women, saying the number of reported suicide attacks had jumped to 27 in the first five months of this year compared to 26 for all of last year.
On Monday, a girl who looked no more than 12 years old detonated explosives that killed 10 people and injured 30 in a crowded market at Wagir village in northeastern Yobe state, according to truck driver Malam Usaini Jibril.
This past week, at least 85 people have been reported killed in suicide bombings and village attacks blamed on Boko Haram. Hundreds of homes have been burned.
Victims include five villagers killed in a cross-border raid in the Diffa region of neighboring Niger.
Niger's army responded with an attack that killed 16 suspected Boko Haram militants and captured 32, according to a government statement.
"The war against Boko Haram is a non-negotiable political goal," Niger's government said in a statement read on state television Thursday night. "The fight against Boko Haram will give us our collective freedom."
The United States has condemned the attacks and promised support for a multinational army that this year has driven Boko Haram from a large swath of northeast Nigeria where it had set up a so-called Islamic caliphate under its harsh version of Shariah law.
But the multinational fight has been bogged down with Chad claiming it has had to retake some towns two and three times because Nigerian troops have not arrived to secure them.
Underscoring those failures, the U.S. Embassy this week said "We encourage the government of Nigeria to take steps to secure and govern liberated areas by filling in behind military successes with police and civilian administration."
Boko Haram says Western-style democracy has brought only corruption and inequality to oil-rich but impoverished Nigeria and that only Islamic rule offers a just solution in the country of about 170 million people almost equally divided between Christians and Muslims.
Maiduguri - A teenage girl strapped with explosives ran away from a crowded mosque this week, killing only herself and cementing suspicions that Boko Haram is using unwilling captives in its terror campaign in Maiduguri.
The girl took off after her companion blew up in an explosion that killed 30 people on Monday in Maiduguri, the biggest city in northeast Nigeria, witnesses and a mortuary worker said.
"In the confusion of the blast, the other girl just ran away and only exploded when she was far from the crowd," said fishmonger Idi Idrisa.
It was unclear if the teenager fled in fright, fear or on purpose, but this and other bungled bombings have many believing that Nigeria's home-grown Boko Haram Islamic extremist group is using some of its thousands of kidnap victims as unwilling weapons.
A military bomb disposal expert has told The Associated Press that most bombs carried by girls and women have remote detonation devices, meaning the carrier cannot control the explosion.
The U.N. children's agency last month reported an "alarming spike" in suicide bombings by girls and women, saying the number of reported suicide attacks had jumped to 27 in the first five months of this year compared to 26 for all of last year.
On Monday, a girl who looked no more than 12 years old detonated explosives that killed 10 people and injured 30 in a crowded market at Wagir village in northeastern Yobe state, according to truck driver Malam Usaini Jibril.
This past week, at least 85 people have been reported killed in suicide bombings and village attacks blamed on Boko Haram. Hundreds of homes have been burned.
Victims include five villagers killed in a cross-border raid in the Diffa region of neighboring Niger.
Niger's army responded with an attack that killed 16 suspected Boko Haram militants and captured 32, according to a government statement.
"The war against Boko Haram is a non-negotiable political goal," Niger's government said in a statement read on state television Thursday night. "The fight against Boko Haram will give us our collective freedom."
The United States has condemned the attacks and promised support for a multinational army that this year has driven Boko Haram from a large swath of northeast Nigeria where it had set up a so-called Islamic caliphate under its harsh version of Shariah law.
But the multinational fight has been bogged down with Chad claiming it has had to retake some towns two and three times because Nigerian troops have not arrived to secure them.
Underscoring those failures, the U.S. Embassy this week said "We encourage the government of Nigeria to take steps to secure and govern liberated areas by filling in behind military successes with police and civilian administration."
Boko Haram says Western-style democracy has brought only corruption and inequality to oil-rich but impoverished Nigeria and that only Islamic rule offers a just solution in the country of about 170 million people almost equally divided between Christians and Muslims.
Police rescue 2 abducted Lebanese in Bayelsa
18:46 26/06/2015
Yenagoa - The Bayelsa Police Command on Friday said it rescued two expatriate construction workers abducted by unknown gunmen in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
The command’s spokesman, Asinim Butswat, said the Lebanese were freed on Thursday following massive crackdown by combined security forces in the area.
"The two Lebanese, Ibrahim Abi Phrem and Sarkis Abi Chimooni, all male, were kidnapped on June 24, at Ogbia Local Government Area.
"They were rescued at Okodi in Ogbia riverine community on 25 June 2015 where they were abandoned by the kidnappers due to massive manhunt by police.
"They are hale and hearty and have been reunited with their families.
"Efforts are being intensified to arrest the kidnappers,” Butswat said.
Unknown gunmen had on Wednesday afternoon killed two policemen and abducted two Lebanese nationals in Onuegbum community.
The slain policemen were attached to Pache Construction Company, employers to the abductees.
The eight gunmen, according to residents who witnessed the incident, arrived the community at about 12.20 p.m. through the waterway in two speed boats.
The gunmen reportedly besieged the sand dredging site and shot repeatedly into the air to scare passersby and other dredging workers in the area who escaped to safety.
The two policemen responded with gunshots, but were killed by the volley of shots released by the armed men.
Butswat said the corpses of the policemen were deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa for autopsy.
Butswat also said that efforts were being intensified to arrest the kidnappers and bring them to book.
- NAN
Yenagoa - The Bayelsa Police Command on Friday said it rescued two expatriate construction workers abducted by unknown gunmen in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
The command’s spokesman, Asinim Butswat, said the Lebanese were freed on Thursday following massive crackdown by combined security forces in the area.
"The two Lebanese, Ibrahim Abi Phrem and Sarkis Abi Chimooni, all male, were kidnapped on June 24, at Ogbia Local Government Area.
"They were rescued at Okodi in Ogbia riverine community on 25 June 2015 where they were abandoned by the kidnappers due to massive manhunt by police.
"They are hale and hearty and have been reunited with their families.
"Efforts are being intensified to arrest the kidnappers,” Butswat said.
Unknown gunmen had on Wednesday afternoon killed two policemen and abducted two Lebanese nationals in Onuegbum community.
The slain policemen were attached to Pache Construction Company, employers to the abductees.
The eight gunmen, according to residents who witnessed the incident, arrived the community at about 12.20 p.m. through the waterway in two speed boats.
The gunmen reportedly besieged the sand dredging site and shot repeatedly into the air to scare passersby and other dredging workers in the area who escaped to safety.
The two policemen responded with gunshots, but were killed by the volley of shots released by the armed men.
Butswat said the corpses of the policemen were deposited at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa for autopsy.
Butswat also said that efforts were being intensified to arrest the kidnappers and bring them to book.
- NAN
Accident claims 12 lives in Ogun
07:05 27/06/2015
Abeokuta - No fewer than 12 persons lost their lives in an accident involving a truck and a commercial bus at Ilishan Remo/Sagamu Junction of Sagamu/Benin Expressway on Friday in Ogun.
Abdullahi Lawal, the FRSC Sagamu unit Commander, who confirmed the accident, told the media that 15 persons were involved in the accident.
According to him, while 12 of them died, three were seriously injured.
"We went to the scene and met the crash which involved a truck carrying a container and a commercial bus."
"Three of them were rescued and taken to the hospital, the remaining 12 were killed."
"We could not find the driver of the truck, we assumed that they ran off when the accident happened."
"Eye witnesses said the truck was driving against traffic. It happened in Ijebu Ode- Sagamu side of the road."
"We recovered the manifest of the vehicle, we discovered that the vehicle loaded from Ago-Iwoye and was heading to Sango Ota."
"All the recovered items, including the original copy of the manifest, are with the police."
The commander said the corpses were deposited at Fakoya Mortuary in Sagamu while the injured were taken to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu.
Abeokuta - No fewer than 12 persons lost their lives in an accident involving a truck and a commercial bus at Ilishan Remo/Sagamu Junction of Sagamu/Benin Expressway on Friday in Ogun.
Abdullahi Lawal, the FRSC Sagamu unit Commander, who confirmed the accident, told the media that 15 persons were involved in the accident.
According to him, while 12 of them died, three were seriously injured.
"We went to the scene and met the crash which involved a truck carrying a container and a commercial bus."
"Three of them were rescued and taken to the hospital, the remaining 12 were killed."
"We could not find the driver of the truck, we assumed that they ran off when the accident happened."
"Eye witnesses said the truck was driving against traffic. It happened in Ijebu Ode- Sagamu side of the road."
"We recovered the manifest of the vehicle, we discovered that the vehicle loaded from Ago-Iwoye and was heading to Sango Ota."
"All the recovered items, including the original copy of the manifest, are with the police."
The commander said the corpses were deposited at Fakoya Mortuary in Sagamu while the injured were taken to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu.
Police arrest human trafficker in Imo
20:44 26/06/2015
Lagos - Police have said that they have arrested a suspected human trafficker in Imo, along with four other baby factory suspects.
The Commissioner of Police in Imo, Austin Evbakharbokun said in a statement to various news agencies that the arrests were made following a report made by a woman who gave birth but returned home without her child.
Evbakharbokun in the statement also named the suspects and said that the victim's parents grew suspicious when their daughter returned home without her baby, and reported the matter to the police.
During the course of the investigation, the mother revealed that she had sold her child for N500 00.
For more on this story, visit Punch.
Lagos - Police have said that they have arrested a suspected human trafficker in Imo, along with four other baby factory suspects.
The Commissioner of Police in Imo, Austin Evbakharbokun said in a statement to various news agencies that the arrests were made following a report made by a woman who gave birth but returned home without her child.
Evbakharbokun in the statement also named the suspects and said that the victim's parents grew suspicious when their daughter returned home without her baby, and reported the matter to the police.
During the course of the investigation, the mother revealed that she had sold her child for N500 00.
For more on this story, visit Punch.
Buhari dissolves state oil company board
20:44 26/06/2015
Abuja - Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari dissolved the board of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Friday as a first step to cleaning up the oil industry in Africa's biggest economy.
Inaugurated on May 29, Buhari came into power on an anti-corruption platform and a pledge to make the oil sector more transparent. Oil represents 80 percent of the government's revenues but the slide in crude prices since last year has left it struggling to pay its bills.
"The president has said he will clean up the oil sector. That is the beginning of the clean up," Buhari's spokesman, Femi Adesina, said.
The government may be losing money through opaque contracts in which crude oil worth billions of dollars is given to traders in exchange for refined imports, mainly gasoline, international and domestic watchdogs have said.
The lower house of parliament decided on Wednesday to set up a committee to investigate whether the government had been short-changed by the state oil company scheme to swap crude for refined products.
"You can't possibly have the same board in place while the place is being investigated and with the intention to change the way things are being done there," said Adesina.
Nigeria's anti-corruption agency has investigated various oil scandals in the past, namely a fuel subsidy fraud costing the government $6.8 billion between 2009-2011. But due to a lack of political will, only a handful were prosecuted.
"It's the country's cash cow. It has a bright future. It's just that transparency and accountability have to be introduced into how it operates and this is the beginning of that process," Adesina said. (Additional reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by David Clarke)
Abuja - Nigeria's new President Muhammadu Buhari dissolved the board of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Friday as a first step to cleaning up the oil industry in Africa's biggest economy.
Inaugurated on May 29, Buhari came into power on an anti-corruption platform and a pledge to make the oil sector more transparent. Oil represents 80 percent of the government's revenues but the slide in crude prices since last year has left it struggling to pay its bills.
"The president has said he will clean up the oil sector. That is the beginning of the clean up," Buhari's spokesman, Femi Adesina, said.
The government may be losing money through opaque contracts in which crude oil worth billions of dollars is given to traders in exchange for refined imports, mainly gasoline, international and domestic watchdogs have said.
The lower house of parliament decided on Wednesday to set up a committee to investigate whether the government had been short-changed by the state oil company scheme to swap crude for refined products.
"You can't possibly have the same board in place while the place is being investigated and with the intention to change the way things are being done there," said Adesina.
Nigeria's anti-corruption agency has investigated various oil scandals in the past, namely a fuel subsidy fraud costing the government $6.8 billion between 2009-2011. But due to a lack of political will, only a handful were prosecuted.
"It's the country's cash cow. It has a bright future. It's just that transparency and accountability have to be introduced into how it operates and this is the beginning of that process," Adesina said. (Additional reporting by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by David Clarke)
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