Journalists Kept Nigeria Peaceful, Habitable In 2015 -Clergy

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02/01/2016

By Mohammad Ibrahim

Kaduna (Nigeria) — Founder of Peace Revival Foundation in Nigeria, Pastor Yohana Buru Friday said the country remained peaceful in 2015, because of the role played by Journalists in the country.

According to him, if journalists carried out their duties as expected, not only Nigeria, but the whole world will live in peace.

Pastor Buru who stated this during a dinner organized for Kaduna Journalists to mark the new year, expressed readiness to partner journalists in the area of promoting peaceful co-existence in the country.

“God made us to live in peace and you did that wonderfully well last year. What ever we became it’s because of the journalists role in this country.

“We are happy to partner with you on this issue of peace promotion in the country, Kaduna in particular. We thank you for supporting our cause,” he said.

In his remarks, Malam Lawal Maduru who owns a rehabilitation centre in Kaduna thanked Allah for keeping them alive to witness 2016 in good health.

While expressing gratitude to the clerics, leader of journalidts in Kaduna, Garba Muhammad expressed happines with the recognition accorded journalists by the Foundation.

He further expressed readiness to collaborate with the founder in the area of peace promotion.

Garba said the state council of journalists is ready to work in the area of peace with any group or individuals.

Shi’ites Call For Independent Investigation Into Zaria Killings

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01/01/2016

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By Mohammad Ibrahim

Kaduna (Nigeria) — The Islamic Movement in Nigeria, also known as Shi’ite Sect, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to take action on the killing of its members, and not wait for the report of enquiry set up by Kaduna State Government.

According to the group, instead of the President waiting for the state government and army to tender their submissions to him, he should set up a powerful independent judicial commission of inquiry that include people of integrity, as well as human right activists.

A clash between the army and members of the sect on 12th and 13th of December 2015, in Zaria, left hundreds of shi’tes dead.

A statement by the Group’s Spokesperson, Ibrahim Musa, was issued in reaction to President Buhari’s comment on the issue.

The president during his maiden Media chat in Abuja said he remained silent about the crisis because he doesn’t want to comment before the outcome of both Army and kaduna state government investigation.

The Shi’tes claimed that based on the insensitivity shown by the president, the movement expect no justice from the government.

“The claim by the Nigerian President that he will wait for the report of the Kaduna State Government before commenting on the Zaria massacre is mischievous to say the least.

“The Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has already declared and made public his stance and condemned IMN and even desecrated the grave of the mother of his Eminence, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky. How can IMN get justice from such a person?‬

‪”Based on the insensitivity shown by the president, how could the IMN expect any justice from the government? The Kaduna state governor who had played a major role in the massacre and destruction of properties in Zaria had since declared that the leader of the Movement was going to be prosecuted even before announcing the members of his committee of enquiry. ‬

‪”Buhari expects to take a stand on the issue after the culprits including the Army and Kaduna state governmnment have conducted an investigation into an issue they were active party to by making them a judge in their own case.‬
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“We demand that instead of the President to wait for the Kaduna state government and the army to tender their submissions to him.

“He should set up a powerful independent judicial commission of inquiry that include people of integrity and human right activists.

“It is only then that justice might be done to the Zaria massacre of December 12 and 13,” the statement reads.

Nigeria: Highlights Of The Maiden Presidential Media Chat of President Muhammadu Buhari

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31/12/2015

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Nigerian president Mohamadu Buhari has held his maiden presidential media chat, Wednesday. He responded to various questions that centers on national issues of which included the situation of the Chibok girls, the Shi’ite killings in Zaia, Corruption among many issues.

Below are the major highlights of the presidential media chat;

On his promise of releasing the Chibok girls: He said ,the government tried to negotiate with people claiming to be Boko Haram leaders, but they had no credible information to give the government . I’m working with our neighbors to #BringBackOurGirls. Although we have no credible information on their locations, we are keeping our options open, if a credible leader of Boko Haram can come out; we are prepared to negotiate with Boko Haram for the girls”.

On Corruption he said; he said, we cannot name those who return stolen funds as we have to take documents to court. There are terrible cases of corruption; we can only appeal to Nigerians to be patient. We have to develop the patience to prosecute corrupt officials through the courts. As a military leader it was possible to round people up & jail them for being corrupt, but not in a democracy. By end of the first quarter of 2016, we will give Nigerians update on how far our anti-corruption war has gone.

On Shiite Killings; he said, I cannot make any statement until the official report of inquiry is released. “The president of Iran spoke to me about the Shiite crisis; and I told him as a government, we have a system. I am allowing all the investigative bodies to do their job regarding the Shiite crisis. I have to wait for the official reports before I can make a statement. How can any group create a state in another state? I saw clips of excited teenagers hitting the chests of generals. No justification for Shi’ite killings but to be fair to both sides, I have to wait for the outcome of the inquiry. I expect an inquiry on Shi’ite killings by Kaduna state government because it happened there.

On saying his government has technically won the war against Boko Haram; he said, When I say the war has been technically won, I meant their capacity to carry out conventional attack has weakened.

Other statements of President Buhari during the chat includes;

Hijab will have to be banned if Boko Haram bombings continue”

We may have to send the young unemployed youth seeking the N5,000 fee to farm to earn the money

I have declared my assets four times.

We have documents showing that Nigerian crude oil was diverted and proceeds from the oil were diverted to private individuals.

When I say the war [against Boko Haram] has been technically won, I meant their capacity to carry out conventional attack has weakened.

There are evidences of treasonable felony against Nnamdi Kanu.

Nigeria is not borrowing again but renegotiating with creditors.

I cannot see the NASS spending N45billion to buy cars on top of the transport allowance they collect.

I don’t think I picked anybody (as Minister) that I know will embarrass my government.

APC Officials Receive Bribe To Suspend Kaduna Senator

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30/12/2015

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By Mohammad Ibrahim

Kaduna (Nigeria) — All Progressive Congress (APC) Chairman of ward 10 in ‎Kaduna South Local Government area of Kaduna state North West Nigeria, Ado Mohammed Sani alleged that 500 thousand naira was given to the ward excos to suspend Senator Representing Kaduna central, Shehu Sani from the party.

Sani who was the Secretary of the party forum of ward chairmen in the local government made the revelation at a news briefing, Wednesday in Kaduna.

He explained that the suspension letter sent to the Senator was not signed by the ward 6 chairman, alleging that one of the signatories of the letter was an imposter.

According to him, a meeting of the ward excos was facilitated by a Senior special Adviser on trade and investment to the ‎governor, Muktar Ahmed Monrovia, where the money was given to carry out the so called suspension.

“The meeting was facilitated by the Senior Special Adviser on trade and investment at the Polo club in Murtala Square where he gave them five hundred thousand naira and promised them a lot more to come.

“They signed the document they thought was an attendance only for some of them to discover that what they signed was a suspension letter” he said.

“As a way of finding solution to the matter, we the forum of Chairmen of the local government invited Senator Shehu Sani‎ and we had a meeting with him, where we told him we were not happy with what was going on between him and the governor; because what was happening was affecting our baby party and he gave us his side of the fracas.

“Thereafter, we invited the Senior Special Adviser on trade and investment to the governor and had a meeting with him the same day and pleaded that he arrange a meeting between us and the executive governor and told him all that transpired between us and the Senator who is ready for a round table to address the matter.

“He promised to facilitate a meeting between the forum and the Governor, On Monday I called him on the said meeting, he told me he was at home and promised ‎to call, he actually called, but said the Governor was out of town.

“But to our chagrin, this same person who was supposed to facilitate a meeting between us and the governor, went ahead to organize a meeting between the Exco of ward six Tudun Wada at Murtala Square to be precise at Polo Club where he gave them five hundred thousand naira and a lot of promises that they should sign a paper for him.

“Most of them that signed the paper said they did not know what they signed and at the end of the day, we met some of these excos who cannot even speak English who said they thought what they signed was an attendance paper.

“So, we are calling on all our party members irrespective of whoever side you are, the Governor and the Senator owed Kaduna people a lot, because we went out to campaign and rally support for them, so what Kaduna people expect from them is dividends of democracy and development.

“The crisis is not going to urgur well for the party in the state, some people are talking of suspension, so somebody cannot be suspended through a fake arrangement through somebody we thought will help to bring about the resolution of the conflict” he said.

Efforts to get any of the government officials to speak on the matter was not successful.

Robbery Suspect Claims It’s Easier To Steal in Other W/African Countries Than Nigeria

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30/12/2015

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A trans-border robbery suspect, Wasimi Dennis, 32, has confessed that robbery operation is easier to carry out in other West Africa countries than in Nigeria, owing to what he described as less security consciousness in those countries.

Dennis, an ex-convict was arrested by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad, RRS, in Agbole area of Orile, Lagos, South-west Nigeria over the weekend.

In his confessional statement, Dennis said “I was released from prison about a year ago. I am an expert in break-in-robbery; I operated in Ghana, along West Africa Coast. I broke into people’s houses and make away with their properties and personal effects like mobile phones, laptops, Jewelries and other personal effects. I used to bring the stolen items to Nigeria to sell”.

Dennis, a drop-out of the Sapele Technical College, said he ventured into several skills but was not successful, saying he went into robbery in his bid to survive.

He claimed to have repented shortly after serving his jail term and took up a job as a sales representative in a fabric shop on Lagos Island.

According to him; “After I dropped out of Sapele Technical College I came to Lagos to learn music. After this, my father opened a shop for me, where I was managing before things were a bit difficult for me.

“Shortly after this, I decided to go into house breaking and stealing to survive; I was into this for about six years. All the houses I have operated are in FESTAC area because I know much about the area.

“My major operations were in Ghana because Ghanaians are not security conscious unlike Nigeria where security is tight. In Ghana, nobody would challenge you. All the items I stole from Ghana were sold in Lome, Togo and Lagos.

“If I have a large quantity of items to dispose, one Qudus was always the right man for me to call. He would collect the items, sell them and return the money.

‘’One I.K also bought stolen items in large quantity from me. He once had a shop in Church Street junction, Oshodi but presently, he has relocated to China.

Recovered from the Delta state born suspect was a laptop he confessed to have stole in one of his operations in Ghana, and three machetes which were concealed inside the walls of the hideout”.

“Those machetes found inside my apartment in Agbole Orile belong to some area boys, social miscreants, who are operating in a garage nearby. They kept them there for easy access whenever there is crisis among them. The boys are called Spartacus”, he said.

Lagos state police command confirmed the arrest.

Kaduna APC Crisis: State Leaders Upheld Senator’s Suspension

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29/12/2015

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By Mohammad Ibrahim

Kaduna (Nigeria) — All Progressive Party Congress (APC) Kaduna State Executives tuesday upheld the suspension of Senator Shehu Sani, accusing him of disrespect and disobedient to the state party leaders.

Senator Sani representing Kaduna Central, was on monday suspended from the party for 11 months by his Tudun-Wada ward for constantly criticising Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State.

At a news briefing held at the party secretariat in Kaduna, Acting State Public Relation officer, Salisu Tanko Wusono said the senator has violated the party constitution, engaged in anti party activities in the state among others.

“The security threat be caused to the fragile peace of the state by inciting youths of Southern Kaduna to in his own words ” challenge and irritate the APC state government.

“Reckless statement blaming the Nigerian Army over their clash with the shi’ites sect, which was a deliberate attempt at a further inciting members of the sect against the Nigerian Army and Federal Government causing widespread eruption of violence in the state.

“His continue disrespect and disobedient of the state party leaders, as exemplified by his recent refusal to collect a duly signed letter by the acting state chairman.

“This is despite his constitutionally assigned right to his position as enshrined by Article 14.2, sub section (lll) and further specified by Article 15, section (B) of the party constitution.

“There is also a similar disregard of invitation to a meeting by his own ward Tudun Wada North executive committee. His various attempts at factionalising and creating parallel party organs within the state.

“A Situation that has resulted in various complaints against him by all the 23 LGA chapters of our great party in the state. Therefore, the State party executive uphold the decision to suspend the senator from our party activities for 11 months,” he said.

The party, therefore called on its members to be law abiding, as they move forward to fulfill their campaign promises.

But in a reaction, Suleiman Ahmed, Special Assistant to Senator Sani on Politics and Ideology, told journalists that nothing will deter his principal from criticising the “anti-people” policies of the state government.

“The senator will continuously criticise any (government) policy that is anti-people up to the end of (his tenure in) the Senate and beyond.

“So if you feel that the senator should not criticise the government of the day because he is part of the party that brought the current government to power, then when he comes out to re-contest in 2019, do not vote for him.

“This is because Sani has been consistent in his criticism of anti-democratic processes and elements; he did not start his criticism (in the current) democratic (dispensation).

Guinea Declared Free Of Ebola Virus

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29/12/2015

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The World Health Organization has declared Guinea to be free of Ebola.

It’s a milestone, as the Ebola outbreak that ravaged West Africa began in Guinea in December 2013 and spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone. From there, the outbreak traveled to seven other countries.

Liberia and Sierra Leone were earlier declared Ebola-free.

The declaration was made because 42 days have passed since the last person confirmed to have Ebola tested negative for the second time, a WHO statement said.

But the county now enters a 90-day period of heightened surveillance to make sure that any new cases are identified quickly, the WHO said.

WHO: Government has ‘shown extraordinary leadership’

The statement included praise for the government of Guinea and its people, which the WHO said had “shown extraordinary leadership in fighting the epidemic.”

However, the global health organization said that challenges remain — among them, that the virus may persist in the semen of some survivors for up to a year.

The disease is passed through direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.

“The coming months will be absolutely critical,” said Dr. Bruce Aylward, the head of Ebola response for the WHO.

Patient zero: A 2-year-old boy

Researchers from The New England Journal of Medicine say they think the first person to become infected with the disease was Emile Ouamouno, a 2-year-old boy who lived in Gueckedou, a town in southern Guinea.

The total number of people infected with Ebola eventually totaled more than 28,000, according to the World Health Organization. And the number of people who died from the disease reached more than 11,200.

Among those who died was Emile, patient zero.

Burkina Troops Arrested ‘Over Plot To Free Coup Chief

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29/12/2015

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Ouagadougou – Around 20 soldiers in an elite Burkina unit have been arrested in a plot to free comrades detained after trying to grab power in September, including coup leader General Gilbert Diendere, a security source said on Monday.

The troops – one of whom is “a foreign national” – were seized at a meeting where they planned to carry out “an attack on several barracks in the capital”, the source said.

In the ensuing chaos, they would free their detained colleagues, as well as Diendere and General Djibrill Bassole, another alleged putschist leader, the source said.

The soldiers seized in the operation “are being held at Guillaume Bassole”, a military camp in the centre of the capital Ouagadougou, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Rumours of an attempted jailbreak from a military detention facility known by the acronym of MACA have swept the city in the last week.

Prime Minister Isaac Zida confirmed “around 20” soldiers had been arrested, adding “they will be tried for the simple fact of conceiving” of the plan.

Diendere mounted a putsch on September 17, using crack troops from a presidential guard. Their unit, the RSP, was loyal to former head of state Blaise Compaore, who was ousted in a popular uprising 2014.

The operation was thwarted by street protesters and support from the army, which attacked the plotters’ barracks.

At least 11 people were killed and 271 were injured in the demonstrations.

Diendere, a chief-of-staff under Compaore, faces 11 charges, including for “crimes against humanity”.

He has also been charged with murder in connection with the mysterious death in 1987 of Thomas Sankara, a charismatic revolutionary leader who was succeeded by Compaore.

Bassole, Compaore’s former foreign minister, was detained in the light of recorded phone conversations he allegedly had with the president of Ivory Coast’s National Assembly, Guillaume Soro, in connection with the failed coup.

At least 57 people, including about 20 RSP officers, are being held at the MACA in relation to the attempted bid.

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