Soldiers invade Ondo community for Ajube, ex-MEND leader

lJTF can’t hold community leaders liable —Boyloaf

lIjaw under military siege —Rights group
By Emma Amaize, Regional Editor, South-South & Akpokona Omafuaire
SECURITY operatives hunting for the militants who bombed oil pipelines in

Delta State have invaded the riverine Bolowoh community in Ondo State, in search of a former commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, Bibopre Ajube, aka Shoot-At-Sight.
Vanguard learned that the security agents were hunting for the former militant leader, a partner of former General Officer Commanding, GOC, of MEND, Government Ekpemupolo, alias Tompolo.
Meanwhile, former Commander of MEND, Victor Ebikabowei Ben, alias ‘General’ Boyloaf, has dismissed the recent statement by the JTF, in the Niger Delta that it would hold community leaders responsible for attacks by militants on oil facilities in their areas.

Boyloaf, in an interview with Vanguard, said, “Truth is, the JTF cannot hold any community leader responsible for any attack that has taken place in the past or in the future, and they know it,  because the community leaders are not empowered to secure or watch over the pipelines.”

This came as a non-governmental organisation, the Ijaw People Development Initiative, IPDI, cried out yesterday to the international community that the Ijaw nation was under military siege.

Ijaw nation under military siege —IPDI
National president of the organisation, Austin Ozobo, who called for the intervention of the international community told Vanguard on phone: “Thousands of residents have deserted their communities in Gbaramatu Kingdom and Bolowoh community, Ondo State, the hometown of former militant leader, Bibopre Ajube, aka Shoot-At-Sight, because of Monday’s invasion of the community.

“Movement is restricted in the area, cost of food is high and some persons are trapped,” Ozobo said.
Also, the Committee for Rural Development, Warri, Delta State, claimed, yesterday, that security operatives searching for perpetrators of the last pipeline bombing in the state had issued an ultimatum to Ijaw residents living in Sandfield I and 2, Ogbogbene, int Warri over side, Warri South-West Local Government Area of the state, to vacate the areas.

President of the Committee, Mr. Asiayei Enaibo, in a statement, said: “The issue of JTF asking Ijaw communities, especially Sandfield I and 2, Ogbogbene, at Warri over side, because they are in search of Tompolo, is a sign of misdirected action.”

A military source, however, denied that the task force issued a quit notice to Ijaw communities, saying people were just blowing the military operation out of proportion.

Enaibo, who said the residents were already deserting the community,  added, “The JTF should ensure professionalism in their operations, as they are known to be perfect in intelligence gathering. An ultimatum to Ijaw communities to pack out on January 28, is a declaration of war against Ijaw nation by President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.”

Security operatives, who stormed Ondo State, were reportedly working on intelligence that Ajube took part in the Delta pipeline bombing, which the ex-militant leader denied.

Narrow escape

The details were still sketchy, yesterday, as the JTF in the Niger Delta was keeping its current operation in Ondo State secret, but our source said, “Ajube was not at home when they stormed his home.”
Our source said, “Soldiers narrowly missed arresting him, he escaped before they could seize him. They seemed to be targeting people close to Tompolo and have made more arrests. Ajube is one of the top Tompolo generals that accepted amnesty.

“We do not have the identities of the people they have arrested so far and the purpose of the army invasion,” he added.

Last week, the Arogbo Ijaw National Front raised alarm that the Nigerian Army was exacerbating inter-ethnic tensions and other forms of violence in the riverine parts of Ondo State with an ill-advised manhunt for the founder of a vigilante group.

In a statement, its president, James Akubirisei, accused the military of declaring an unwarranted search for Ajube, saying that security agents accused members of a local anti-crime group, Gallery Security Services, founded by Ajube, abandoned their duty posts to carry out the Delta attacks.

Meanwhile, the Okerenkoko Federated Communities have advised the JTF not to bring reproach on the military through indiscriminate arrests of Gbaramatu people over the recent crude oil and gas pipelines bombing in the state.

Secretary, Okerenkoko Federated Communities, Ernest Bebenimibo, in a statement, said, “I want to call on the security agency to stop harassing, arresting and detaining Okerenkoko and Gbaramatu youths without cogent reasons after the recent pipeline bombardment which was roundly condemned by us.”
However, General Boyloaf, in an interview with Vanguard, was asked:

How do you see the present travail of Tompolo concerning a bench warrant by a court for his arrest and insinuation that he was party to the last pipeline bombing in Delta State?
What we have to do is to place events in their proper prospective to avoid over heating the polity and causing unnecessary friction. Most of us have our private businesses and in the course of doing business, we interact on a corporate platform with other businesses and institutions of the government.
In business, there may be misunderstanding, claims and counter claims and I believe that there are ways and means to resolve whatever differences that occur in the process of doing legitimate business. They should explore that process.

A group of ex-militants which said ex-President Jonathan did not grant them amnesty had claimed responsibility, saying that they struck to draw attention to their demand. Do you think they are justified?
The late President Umaru Yar’Ádua, may God bless his soul, granted the amnesty. It was continued by President Goodluck Jonathan and President Buhari is sustaining it. Those who claimed responsibility should open up. They should show their faces so that we will know  if they are beneficiaries of the amnesty or not.
It is not enough to make bogus statements that you cannot substantiate. Anyone who is under amnesty has no justification to blow pipelines. If you do so and they identify you, the normal thing is that you automatically lose the benefits of the amnesty and they treat you as a common criminal.

JTF had said it would hold community leaders responsible for future attacks in their domains. What is your opinion on this?
Truth is, the JTF cannot hold any community leader responsible for any attack that has taken place in the past or will take place in the future, because the community leaders are not empowered to secure or watch over the pipelines.

The communities do not have the wherewithal and capability to protect the pipelines, except the government is encouraging communities to start carrying arms to protect the pipelines, because you cannot protect the pipelines with your bare hands, as the people who destroy the pipelines do not come with bare hands.
I can recall that in the run- up to the last presidential election, mindful of all the threats and tension in the country at the time, government awarded pipeline protection contracts to community based entities. However, uptil now, the government has not paid and most of these community entities are now indebted to their banks that provided funds for the execution of the contracts.

Now, the government is still expecting them to risk their lives to protect the pipelines.  The best the community can do is to provide information to the JTF and they can only do this in a discreet manner or else there will be consequences. It is a matter of life and death.

What is your advice to Tompolo, to submit himself for arrest or continue to defy the law by not coming out?
I really have no advice, other than to say that all responsible adults should be able to discern and count their teeth with their tongues.

What is your advice to militants in N Delta regarding the Buhari regime?
First thing is that they should remember that it was not President Jonathan that granted the amnesty, so the future of the amnesty is not tied to the tribe of the occupant of Aso Villa. With that in mind, the end of Jonathan administration is not necessarily the end of the amnesty.

The sad part is that Jonathan’s administration, through Kingsley Kuku, mismanaged the programme. I cannot fully understand the political agenda and direction of the Buhari administration on the amnesty programme. However, the Coordinator, General Boroh, is doing his best.

So my advice is that our people should understand the issues and the times we are in, and as far as the government has not made any categorical statement against the amnesty, the people should continue to support the government to succeed.

YOU WORKER OF INEQUITY, LEAVE DR. UCHE OGAH ALONE: ISUIKWUATO SQUAD

YOU WORKER OF INEQUITY, LEAVE DR. UCHE OGAH ALONE: ISUIKWUATO SQUAD


The media circulation of threats against the life of Dr. Uche Ogah has been confirmed that it was really leaked by a Good Samaritan. But the question is why these workers of inequities should be planning against an innocent man who has decided to mind his business.

Why these rotten eggs in the sinking ship do not want to sink alone? Why these thieves, looters, frustrated and shameless cultists should not mind their business? We could only envisage that they know that their ends have come and they are afraid of been joblessness.

They are not asking to leave Dr. Ogah alone because they can kill him but just asking them to look for other meaningful things to do with your rotten lives. Though we Isuikwuato Squad already knew their antics that every time justice goes in favour of Uche Ogah, they employ these threats trying to scare him but this will not work again. Let it be known that should anything happens to Ogah, it will repay with 100 heads as anyone that has hand in it will lose his entire family. Our silence should not be taking for foolishness and let the perpetrators be warned. Signed: Shredrack Nkemdili Leader of Isuikwuato Squard.

Breaking! EFCC Seals Ihejirika’s Abuja House; You’ll be shocked what Happened at the Scene (Photos)

BREAKING! EFCC Seals Ihejirika’s Abuja House; You’ll be shocked what Happened at the Scene (See Photos)

An Estate along Jabi Airport road junction in Abuja, belonging to the former Chief of Army Staff (COAS).Azubuike Ihejirika, CFR was today 27/1/2016 sealed by the officials of the EFCC in company of heavily armed security officials.

During the operation, see what happened to an eyewitness for taking photos of the building:
“I received 2 hot slaps from one of the security agents for daring to take these photos. My phone was seized and searched but the photos were not found (Narrow escape).


B

Afenifere to Buhari: Don’t make anti-graft war your only agenda

Akure—PAN-Yoruba Socio- Political organisation, Afenifere, yesterday, cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari against making the anti-corruption fight his only agenda but to tackle the nation’s dwindling economy.
It also kicked against  the plan to finance the 2016 budget through excessive borrowing from international   financial institutions.

Rising from its monthly meeting in Akure, Ondo State, the group kicked against the sensationalising of corruption by the Federal Government.

National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, who read the communiqué  also faulted the presentation of the 2016 budget.

While it threw its weight behind the war against corruption, Afenifere said “we support the war, because corruption is evil but we quickly warned that our war against corruption should not be selective, sectional and should be all embracing and compassing.”

It, however, said the anti-graft war should be fought “within the confines of rules of law. And the anti-corruption war should not be the only agenda of the government. They should concentrate on rebuilding the economy because we have seen countries that have been ravage by war, Liberia, Serria-Leone, people took over government there and they started rebuilding the economy. So we should not turn anti-corruption to the only agenda. Building the economy is important.

“The naira is collapsing. Every sector is going down. Investors are leaving our country. This should attract the attention of the government because ultimately, our experience have shown that anti-corruption takes a long time to win the war.”

What Can Africa Learn From Jonathan by Kalu

What Can Africa Learn From Jonathan by Kalu
 
By:Peter Agba Kalu

 From the time of King Pharaoh of Egypt to Queen Sheeba of Ethiopia; from Anwar Sadat to Edward Akufo-Addo of Ghana; from King Chaka (c 1788-1828) founder of the Zulu Empire to Uthman Shehu Danfodio, from El-Kanemi Sheikh Muhammad El-Amin (c 1779 – 1835) of Borno to the founder of the Swazis kingdom King Sobhuza (c 1795 – 1836), that Africa in particular and the black race in general has never lacked great minds who defined their generation. And in so doing they became so special that we have no alternative than to elevate them to the position of African heroes.

If truth be told, the greatest challenge that Africa is facing in this 21st Century is leadership. From Egypt, Ghana, Liberia, Uganda, Cameroon, Ethiopia down to Congo; good leadership is what each and every citizen of every nation of Africa aspires to. And over the years, African sit tight syndrome by her leaders wasn’t helping matter. But, in the mist of all these bad examples, We equally have in abundance those whose activities in the past put Africa in a good light like Nelson Mandela, Julius Nyereye of Tanzania, Jerry Rawlings of Ghana and few others who by putting the peoples interest first carved an inch in the history of Africa alongside the likes of Kwame Nkruma of Ghana (1902-72), King Abu Hassan 1 of Morocco (1836-94), Paul Hazoume of Benin Republic (1890-1980), Richard Abrom Henries of Liberia (1908-80), Leon Mba of Gabon (1902-67) to mention but few.

The leadership challenge was carried over to this generation and it was the desire to encourage good leadership in Africa that made Mo Ibrahim to set up the yearly Mo Ibrahim Leadership Award with a reward of $5m USD. These are great minds Frantz Fanon had in mind when he said, “Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it”. That’s where the unavoidable mention of Goodluck Jonathan comes in, for here is a leader who discovered the greatest need of Africans today and did not out of the glory that goes with power betray the mission.

The question today should be, in trying to move democracy forward what should Africa learn from Jonathan? In attempt to answer this question the Commonwealth Observer Group recently send him to Tanzania as Head of Commonwealth Tanzanian elections observer. Coming out the elections in Tanzania, in one of his speeches and his experine he thundered,
“I know people would really want to know how we can progress as a continent.

First and foremost, let me commend African countries because our democracies are still very recent. Most African countries gained independence between 1960 and 1965 although Ghana was the first African country South of the Equator or South of the Sahara that gained independence in 1957. But most countries for instance, Nigeria gained independence in 1960 and others 1965. Zimbabwe was the last in 1980.
So you can see that we are very young democracies. At the beginning at independence, governments were not very stable – with military interventions, territorial activities and so on. Now democracy is stabilizing in Africa and at the beginning of everything there must be issues. And if you read about the democracies of many countries, what they passed through, you will see that we’re even moving faster. Of course we have the advantage because you should think about the concept of not rediscovering the wheel.”

The point is that African leaders need to refined leadership in Africa by establishing institutions away from their selves. So that after office they will have a global applause; this will force highly respected organizations and institutions to fall over themselves to recognize and honour them. By only going round the world honouring invitations and delivering speeches on how to make democracy work in Africa or their tenure experience they will make lots of money to run their foundation. The sit tight syndrome African leaders are exhibiting is dehumanizing the people in their selfish quest for power.

Talking about building institutions, it’s important to note that democratic principles are not just defined by conducting election. Building institutions away from the leader and having access information are part and parcel of it. Like under Jonathan for five good years there was no single political detainee in Nigeria under any excuse, even when it was noted that he was the most criticized president in the world, he still allow freedom of expression to flourish. This is how democracies are built. These are some of the positives African leaders can learn from him.

Achieving this is not suppose to be so difficult once our leaders put self apart be like he pointed out, “we have the advantage because you should think about the concept of not rediscovering the wheel” and continuing in that line of thought after his Tanzania election monitoring he said, “The wheel is already there, so we can now just observe what others do and then modify to suit ourselves. Others discovered the wheel and it is left for us to follow what they do. We cannot go and re-invent the wheel. So that’s what is giving us the advantage. Basically from my experience in government, I think I will share with other governments in the continent and in fact in the country because you did mention of local elections and Nigerian general election.
Election observation has two components. What makes a good election is not what happened on Election Day alone. Most people talk about the election on the voting day. The pre-election activities, election activities and post-election activities give whole concept of election observation. The first thing is have you registered your voters? Make sure that some people have not been disenfranchised. Are you sure 100% of the people who are supposed to vote, who have reached the adult suffrage which is 18 years have been registered? If an election process does not register all the people who are supposed to vote, we have an issue!”

These observations coming from a leader whose main philosophy about power is that the blood of one single citizen is not worth his quest for power. And went on to live by the examples of his advocacy and by so doing refused to be another big embarrassment to Africa, if he had chosen to remain in office by all means. In a polity where in no distance history a leader once thundered that elections are do-or-die affairs, the believe in some circle that President Jonathan chose to build a legacy in Africa is not out of place. As a result, the suggestion that he has taken a noble step like Nelson Mandela is not farfetched. And, in line with his noble step that saved bloodshed in other West African nations like Togo, Ghana, Benin Republic, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Sierra Loan, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Liberia has made some institutions to suggest a Noble Peace Prize nomination. This is against the background of how the refusal to relinquish power led Ivory Coast to a Civil War that devastated the nation and caused thousands of avoidable deaths. This is exactly where and why the Jonathan lesson for Africa comes handy.

This is coming in a continent where the Prime Minister who has ruled Equatorial Guinea since 1979 is still holding firmly to power, just like that of Angola. In a continent where the president of Zimbabwe has been in power in since 1980, and that of Cameroon since 1982.

One of the most disappointing is that of Uganda who has ruled since 1986.While in the bush as a rebel fighting the government of the day, a BBC reporter came to interview him, he wondered what was wrong with African leaders that they want to die in office. He hid his face in-between his legs in shame for such an attitude but, today, he adjusting their constitution each time his tenure expires.

Do we then talk about Omar Hassan Al-Bashir of Sudan who has been in office since 1989 or Blaise Compare of Burkina Faso who fled after failing to extend their constitution after 27 years in office? Look at President of Rwanda, who came to power in 1994, he is now trying to amend their constitution to remain in power. The same power bug is biting President Pierre Nurunziza who after ruling Burundi for 10 years extended their constitution to contest again. One can count how many lives that has been lost in Burundi to help you appreciate President Jonathan the more.

Since elections are the main bane into all these problem after observing the Tanzanian election President Jonathan rightly suggested, “During their campaigns, are all the parties should be well exposed through the government media? Unless where there are restrictions? And also how do you do your campaigns? Back home here there are certain things we do and we take them for granted. Internationally, they are not right. For example in most of our campaigns, politicians give gifts to people such as matches, biro pens and so on. Internationally these are regarded as inducements to the people. It’s not the best global practice.

So most of our electoral bodies need to come up with guidelines so that political parties and those who do rallies should not go to rally grounds and start distributing items thereby inducing the electorate. Then of course what happens on the Election Day, the election procedure? Well, of course in Tanzania it was quite clear and neat. Then in the post-election process having processed the result we expected any aggrieved person to go to court and get justice.

The post election period and what happens in the courts are very important because if people think there were anomalies in the elections then the courts are the last resort. So the package is total. African countries are moving and I believe they will continue to improve.”

Coming home after the Tanzania experience to meet the Kogi and Bayelsa election, when is opinion was sought he said, ” Kogi elections, I wasn’t there but in Bayelsa elections I was involved. But I was not too pleased because of the security challenges that they couldn’t conclude elections in Southern Ijaw local government. That election was inconclusive and even elections elsewhere what I heard wasn’t too pleasing as well, people were killed, people died in the process.

Why should governorship elections cost the blood of innocent Nigerians? Why should local government elections cost the blood of Nigerians. My take here is that no election is worth the blood of Nigerians. So when I see people with gunshots, even traditional ruler of Peremabiri Community in Southern Ijaw LGA in Bayelsa is in critical condition in hospital with bullets lodged in his brain! That’s definitely not the right thing to do. So in subsequent elections we need to work very hard to make sure that some of these atrocities don’t come up again.

International observers always comment on these issues whenever they observe elections but unfortunately they don’t have the powers to curtain these in a sovereign nationality and to do what they want to do to stop all these. These few things I raised are critical in declaring elections as credible, free and fair. So the good news is that African countries are really improving everyday. Even in Nigeria right from 1959 elections till date, INEC or whatever name the electoral body bears at a particular time is improving wit every election. There’s indeed good hope and I believe that it will get better especially as all African countries are democratized.

There may be differences in standards – democracy is not just all about elections. Who and how the election is conducted matters so much. The size and the stability of our democracies in Africa are improving and that’s the only way to stimulate economic growth. Investors will not be willing to invest in an unstable economy. Even in ECOWAS when I was there we emphasized that our states must be very economically and politically stable- so that foreign direct investors will be encouraged to come calling. To get this foreign direct investment, first there must be a stable government which in turn will attract these foreign investors. That’s it, so than you.”

These are some of the issues and actions that made some international scholars to suggest that indeed Jonathan is in a class of his own in a continent where a former democratic president once publicly boasted that elections are a do-or-die affair. And, where leaders are living true to that boast. And then you have a President who came and said my ambition is not worth the blood of any citizen. According to some global circle such a man should be appreciated.

According to some school of thought, if President Jonathan had behaved like some other African leaders there would have been no peace in Nigeria and to a larger extend West Africa today. Courtesy of his selfless leadership democracy has gained a solid foot in one big African family. And looking at it from the point of a continent where millions has been killed in quest for power, this single soul that never allowed his personal ambition to put the lives of 160 million people in jeopardy deserves, to a very reasonable extend, any accolades being poured on him to globally.

It is against this back ground that some international observers has proclaimed President Jonathan not just an asset to Nigeria but, to the entire African continent that is in need of a heroic figure that will step into the giant shoes of Mandela.

Peter Agba Kalu-author, journalist, social critics & human rights activist a Senior Writer Sun Newspaper is also the Editor-in-chief Journalist101, CEO African Heritage Online, DG Igbo kwenu! Publisher World Sports News

Lassa Fever patient dies in Lagos

– 27-year-old Lassa Fever patient dies in a General hospital in Lagos state
– She is to be buried after due consultation with her family
-Lagos state commissioner for health urges residents to observe basic environmental sanitation

Lagos state commissioner for health, Dr Jide Idris, on Wednesday confirmed the death of a 27-year-old Lassa Fever patient in one of the General hospitals in the state.

Idris, in a statement issued in Lagos said the ailment was confirmed as Lassa Fever on Jan. 26.

He explained that the 27-year-old lady travelled to Edo on December 24, 2015 and returned to Lagos on January 2.

”She became ill on Jan. 14, and received care in one private hospital and three churches before she was referred on January 23 to Ijede General Hospital with fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and body weakness,”  he said.

Jide Idris, (middle) commissioner for health speaks on Lassa

According to him, the patient died within a few hours of admission while the remains have been kept in the morgue in leak-proof body bag.

She is to be buried after due consultation with her family.

”Ninety people have been line-listed as contacts of the last confirmed case as at Jan. 26 and contact tracing is ongoing,’’ the commissioner said.

He said that Lagos had recorded 20 suspected cases of Lassa fever as at Jan. 26 since its outbreak in Nigeria in November, 2015.

Out of the 20 suspected cases, 14 tested negative, four were confirmed positive of Lassa fever while results of two suspected cases were still pending.

The commissioner said one case was confirmed on Jan.15, two cases on Jan.18, while another case was confirmed on Jan. 26.

He said further that the ministry had listed 537 contacts of the confirmed cases, adding that 534 (99 per cent) of the contacts were currently being monitored.

He, however, urged residents to observe basic environmental sanitation, including proper disposal of refuse, personal hygiene, adequate nutrition while avoiding open defecation and spitting.

The commissioner urged the public to report suspected cases to the nearest public health facility or notify the ministry through the available lines.

”The state government will continue to provide quality, affordable and accessible healthcare to the good people of the state toward achieving universal healthcare,’’ he said.

The first case of Lassa fever was diagnosed at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH),Idi-Araba, on Jan. 15.

It was a case of a 25-year-old student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, (names withheld) who had contacted the virus before coming to visit his parents at Ifako-Ijaiye area of Lagos.

I’ll respond to Obasanjo's letter formally - Saraki

– Saraki said he would formally answer Obasanjo
 
– Senate spokesman not aware of the letter

Senate president Bukola Saraki has said he would officialy answered to the letter of the ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo.
Obasanjo has written a letter to Senate president and House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara over plans by the National Assembly to buy 469 vehicles.

He also criticized the legislators for being insensitive to the economic situation in Nigeria.

The former president particularly blamed the legislators for fixing and earning salaries and allowances far above what the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, approved for them.

Saraki while saying that he was still reading the letter hinted that he would formally write an answer to Obasanjo in no time.

The Senate president speaking through his media aide Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki restated that he would formally communicate with the ex-president on the matters he raised.

“The Senate President has acknowledged that he has received the letter and that he would formally communicate the former president,” Olaniyonu said.

However, the Senate spokesperson, Aliyu Sabi said that he didn’t know about the letter to Saraki.

He said if there was to be a letter, it would be communicated to senators through the Senate president, continuing that he would speak when such was done.

“As far as I am concerned, I am not aware of any letter to the Senate President from the former president, so I cannot comment on what I am not aware of.

“We have a constitution on this country and any communication to the National Assembly must follow the laid-down rules,so like I said, when I am informed of the said letter,I can now speak,” Sabi told reporters.