Nigeria News
ACN: FG planning chaos ahead of 2015 Polls
Nigeria’s leading opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria today accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party of promoting policies that will plunge Nigeria into crisis, less than two years to the national elections in 2015.
At a press conference addressed by the party’s publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party cited attempts to pitch Muslim North against Western Nigeria, Christians against Muslims and most especially the arrest of suspected ‘Boko Haram’ members with arms in a building owned by the Bayelsa state government.
Here is the Full statement:
“We are compelled to once again raise the alarm about some disturbing developments in the polity. To be sure, this is not the first time we are raising concerns about what seems a deliberate ploy in certain quarters to plunge Nigeria into a deep crisis, by instigating widespread violence and insecurity and engaging in scaremongering tactics
“On January 8th, 2013 we issued a statement which said inter alia: ”For the Jonathan-led Administration, and not minding its deceptive aloofness from it all, the race for 2015 has started in earnest and it is a do-or-die affair, and all means foul and unfair are on the table to cripple the opposition, by ensuring that nothing will be left of the integrity of its key leaders even if they are fortunate to make it to 2015.”
“As recently as April 2nd, 2013, we issued another statement calling attention to the plan by the Federal Government to frustrate the coming together of progressives by targetting key leaders for intimidation and harassment. We also said the Federal Government intends to ensure that elections do not hold in 2015 or they will be held under curfew.
“Today, the situation is even more alarming, and it is also not unconnected with the politics of 2015.
“It is no longer a secret that the PDP-led Federal Government has failed the nation in all ramifications. In the provision of social amenities and standard infrastructure, ensuring the security of lives and property, provision of jobs for our teeming unemployed youths and generally ensuring better life for our people, the party that has presided over the affairs of our nation since 1999 has fallen short. To make matters worse, the party itself is imploding as a result of its own failings, and its tattered umbrella can no longer provide shelter from the elements for its increasingly disenchanted members.
“Against this background, the PDP is keenly aware that it has totally lost the confidence of all Nigerians, and the long-suffering people of this great country are now ready and eager to vote out this clueless party. Keenly aware of this fact, the PDP has now realized that if indeed the 2015 elections are free and fair and conducted in a conducive environment, there will be no chance for the party.
“What is the way out for the PDP? The party has decided to go for broke: Either there will be no elections in 2015 or the polls will be conducted in an atmosphere of chaos, thereby paving the way for the PDP to do what it does best – rig the elections!
“Recent events corroborate this, and I will elaborate on them.
“Since the Boko Haram crisis broke out in some parts of the north, it has been largely restricted to those parts. This has made it possible to say to prospective foreign investors and others that the whole country has not been engulfed in violence and insecurity. But now, the areas that have been largely peaceful are being targetted by those who will only be happy when the whole country is in turmoil.
“Let’s take the South-west for example.
Three recent events, all at the instance of the Federal Government, raise the red flag.
1. A multi-billion naira contract has suddenly been awarded for the protection of oil pipelines in the region.
2. The main beneficiary of the contract has suddenly realized that the Unity Party of Nigeria, formed by the respected statesman Chief Obafemi Awolowo, is no longer in existence, and has thus decided to revive it.
3. Just about the same time, suspected Boko Haram members have been arrested in Lagos, specifically at a house belonging to the government of Bayelsa state.
“The questions that arise are:
“What is the real intention of the Federal Government in awarding this oil pipeline protection contract?
“Is it a mere coincidence that the main beneficiary of the multi-billion naira oil pipeline protection contract is also the same fellow who is promoting the revival of the UPN?
“Could the huge contract have been meant to provide the seed money for the promoters of this party?
“Is it true, as it is being alleged in certain quarters, that the essence of the contract is to recruit 30,000 youths who will ostensibly protect the pipelines, but in the real sense are ready hands to foment violence on demand in the South-west?
“Is it true that the so-called revival of the UPN is to provide a platform for anarchists and end-gamers in the South-west to infiltrate the ranks of the progressives and throw the region into chaos?
“Why is it that suddenly, Boko Haram suspects are popping up in Lagos, and some of those who have been arrested were residing in a building owned by the Bayelsa state government? Is the Bayelsa state government aware of this and, if so, what has it done to evict them from the building? Who are the ragamuffins paraded by security agencies as Boko Haram suspects working for?
“Why have some people in the South-west been engaging in Boko Haram baiting in recent times, vociferously warning that if Boko Haram comes to the region, they will be crushed? Is it a coincidence that this Boko Haram baiting has become stronger since the oil pipeline contract was awarded?
“Who are the brains behind the continuous efforts to sabotage the merger of the progressives? Who bankrolled the tatterdemalions, the disreputable people who are parading themselves as African Peoples Congress? Only this morning, it was reported that a new group is trying to register APCN, in continuation of the sabotage attempts. And who are the real faces of the so-called ANPP stakeholders who have been making spurious claims concerning the All Progressives’ Congress (APC)?
“Gentlemen of the press, ponder these pertinent questions, and place the stated developments in the South-west against the new threat of resurgence of violence by MEND in the Niger Delta, the worsening Boko Haram crisis in the north, and the unrelenting attempts to stop the APC, and you will understand why we have decided to raise this alarm once again.
“We are also concerned by the allegation that the Federal Government may be promoting a policy of inciting some parts of the country against the other, as well as Christians against Muslims. We sincerely hope this is not true.
“May we also use this opportunity to restate our stand, that the Boko Haram crisis – which by the way is a social rather than a religious problem – has festered either due to the ineptitude of the Federal Government or because it fits into the game plan of those who are bent on erecting a road block on the path of free, fair and peaceful polls in 2015.
CONCLUSION
1. We make bold to say that the stand of the PDP is that having seen the handwriting on the wall, the party realizes it cannot win any free and fair elections in Nigeria in 2015. PDP and its stalwarts are therefore perfecting a sinister plan that will make free and fair elections impossible in 2015, or if at all the elections will be held, they will hold under curfew to give the party the cover it needs to rig the polls.
2. Also being considered is a plan under which emergency rule will be imposed on most parts of the country, following which elections will
be put in abeyance, paving the way for tenure elongation. Instigation of violence in hitherto peaceful parts of the country is one of the means to achieve this plan.
3. We are therefore alerting the good people of Nigeria as well as friends of the country around the world to closely monitor events as they unfold in the days ahead, along the lines that we have enunciated above.
4. On our part, we will be keenly watching events as they unfold, either in the South-west or elsewhere. After all, it is said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. In this regard, we call on all our supporters, all progressives and indeed all Nigerians to be vigilant. We will also like to warn that no nation can survive a combination of ethnic and religious conflagration, and that those who will instigate crisis to push a personal and selfish agenda risk being consumed by it.
5. We say NO to violence! We say NO to do-or-die politics! We say NO to any anti-democratic measures as a means of retaining power at all cost.
6. And lest we are misunderstood, the constitution of our great country allows freedom of association and anyone who so desires can form a party. But where the purpose of the party being formed is to instigate chaos and scuttle democracy, every right thinking person must be concerned!
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Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: PM News
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The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.
The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.
Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.
Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.
Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.
Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.
In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.
Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.
Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.
However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.
Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
By Ugochukwu Alaribe
Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The market women, said to be from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.
Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.
A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.
Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole
The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.
Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.
He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid in January 2020.
‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.
She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.
He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.
The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.
Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.
He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’
He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.
Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.
Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend.
He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart.
Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.
The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”
The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad, saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts. This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose.
Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them.
Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter.
“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said.
Sourced From: Tribune
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
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