Niger Delta Avengers: Britain Cautions FG Over Military Option

 The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, has cautioned the federal government over military option as a measure to tackle the resurgence of militancy and other criminality in the Niger Delta region.

The British High Commissioner was speaking in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, shortly after his courtesy visit to the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo.

He also advocated for dialogue as part of a comprehensive approach that should be adopted by Nigerian government to address the situation, adding that force alone may not bring about a lasting solution to the Niger Delta issue.

The Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), an armed militant group, and other violent youth organisations have been launching violent attacks on oil and gas facilities in the Niger Delta area.

Early on Friday, the Niger Delta Avengers militant group claimed three new attacks in the Niger Delta region.

The group said through its Twitter account that it had blown up a pipeline in Bayelsa State owned by Italy’s ENI, hours after attacks on another ENI pipeline as well as one belonging to Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC).

This is sequel to several other attacks they have carried out in recent weeks resulting in international oil companies shutting down their facilities and consequently a drop in the country’s revenue from oil.

The action has forced the federal government to respond by deploying troops to the area’s creeks to stop the alleged destruction of national economic assets and spate of sabotage being perpetrated there by the region’s restive youths.

Source: Channelstv

FG RELEASES LIST OF RECOVERED LOOT

The Federal Government on Saturday released the highly anticipated list of recovered loot. In a statement by the Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the government revealed the recoveries were made between May 29, 2015 and May 25, 2016.

The government gave the breakdown of the loot as N78, 325,354,631.82; $185,119,584.61; £3,508,355.46  and €11, 250.

A conversion of the funds using the official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the amount adds up to N115,792,760,499.

The Muhammadu Buhari-led government added that a separate amount of cash and assets worth over N2tn had also been seized. However, the properties and cash are under legal contention.

The assets and cash seized under interim forfeiture totalled: $9bn, N126bn, £2.4m and €303,399.

A conversion of the worth of assets and cash seized based on the official CBN exchange rate totalled: 1,918,113,864,063.

The government added that funds awaiting return from foreign Jurisdictions total $321,316,726.1; £6,900,000 and €11,826.11.

See complete list:

 
Source: Punch

PRESIDENT BUHARI IS ILL

President Muhammadu Buhari is ill and is being treated at the presidential villa.

The president has an infection in his left ear, otherwise called Meniere Disease, a challenge which has drastically reduced his outings in the last one week.

As a result of the infection, the president now suffers hearing impairment and routinely complains of severe pains and unusual sounds from that ear, those familiar with his condition said reporters that Mr. Buhari had on three recent occasions cancelled official trips within and outside the country due to the infection and was represented at those events by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

A statement by the presidency on Friday said the vice president would again represent the president at the 48th Ordinary Summit of Head of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) holding this weekend in Dakar, Senegal.

The statement by Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the vice president, said Mr. Osinbajo would leave for Dakar on Friday and was expected back in Abuja on Sunday.

Multiple sources in the Presidency told this newspaper Friday that the president got the ear infection about two weeks ago.

Our sources said apart from his family, only a few high profile individuals who visited at the Presidential Villa in the last one week were aware of the president’s illness.

He was also said to have told some of his guests that he was struggling to give his failing health a major attention.

He is currently being treated by his personal physician and other experts from the State House Clinic, our sources said.

An official said the president might seek treatment abroad if his condition does not improve in the next few days.

Despite hearing difficulty, the president, our sources said, managed to attend Jumaat service and host some important visitors, including former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan as well as some clergymen on Friday.

Presidential spokespersons could not be reached to comment for this story on Friday night. While calls to the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, failed to go through, Garba Shehu, the senior special assistant on media and publicity did not answer or return calls. Media reports first hinted of the president’s illness two weeks ago when he was billed to visit Lagos.

Mr. Osinbajo represented him on that visit.

The vice president also represented the president in Papua New Guinea last weekend where the 8th Summit of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States held.

Mr. Buhari on Thursday put off his scheduled trip to Rivers State where he was billed to kick off the cleanup of Ogoni land as recommended by the United Nations Environmental Programme.

Again, Mr. Osinbajo represented him at the event.

Source: Premium Times

CULTISTS THAT BEHEADED ABSU STUDENTS ARRESTED

Four alleged cultist believed to be involved in the killing and beheading of three students of Abia state University, Uturu, were paraded by the Abia state command of the Department of State Services, DSS.

 

The suspects who were aged between 21 and 25 years are Chikezie MacDonald known as Walking Dutch, Chidozie Obi also known as Small body, Chukwuemeka Awom also known as Archangel and Chigozie Eberendu also known as Star boy were members of a cult group known as Burkinafaso. 

Parading the suspects in Umuahia, the State Director of DSS, Mr Korode Kamoju said the suspects were arrested after a painstaking investigation with the support of the university and other security agencies in the state.
According to him the suspects who had confessed to the crime said they carried out the dastardly act as a reprisal to the killing of their leader known as Bidi.
Mr Kamoju said the arrests were a lesson to other criminals pointing out that the long hand of the law would never fail always to find them out.
Source: Abia Facts Newspaper