The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • How Mandela made Obasanjo drop his 3rd term bid — Orji Kalu

    Senate Chief Whip, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, on Thursday revealed in details the key role played by late South African leader, Nelson Mandela, to pressurise former President Olusegun Obasanjo to drop his third term presidential agenda.

    According to the former governor, the late Mandela played a key role which saw Obasanjo drop the idea of amending the Nigerian Constitution to enable him contest for a third term.

    Senator Kalu said: “I recall my personal interactions with him (Mandela), especially during our national struggle to force President Olusegun Obasanjo to drop his plan to amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and secure an extension of his tenure.

    “Disturbed by the details, Mandela placed a call to President Olusegun Obasanjo and told him in clear terms that whatever his plans were, it was neither desirable for Africa”, he said.

    “That intervention, proved strategic to the leadership question in Nigeria at the time, leading to elections in 2007.”

    Senator Kalu made the revelation while giving a speech on “The Mandela I Know”, at the 10th commemoration of “Nelson Mandela Day” in Abuja.

    The event, which was organised by the South African High Commission in Nigeria, held at the University of Abuja (UNIABUJA).

    The South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Bobby Roet, Vice Chancellor of University of Abuja, Prof Abdul Rasheed Na-Allah, and the Deputy Vice-chancellor, Prof C.B.I Alawa, were in all attendance at the event.

    In his speech, the former Abia governor described the late Mandela as an outstanding champion of human freedom and liberty.

    Read Also: How I brought RUGA to Abia, by Orji Kalu

    He said the late African leader was an anti-apartheid crusader who sacrificed the best years of his life to secure the emancipation of his people from the “degradation and humiliation of inferiority status.”

    Kalu who revealed that Mandela was his mentor, said he was tutored and shaped into a responsible, industrious and disciplined man by the late foremost African leader, “who set a challenging example to other African leaders by retiring after a single term as South Africa’s president.”

    The Abia born politician also revealed that the late Mandela introduced him to the leadership of South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC), “with whom I have maintained a very robust relationship.

    “Through him, I met with President Thabo Mbeki, who is now a dear friend and brother. I also met President Kgalema Motlanthe, former Secretary of ANC. And of course, I met President Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa, who is now tasked with the responsibility of leading the great vision that Mandela had for South Africa.”

    Recall that Senator Orji Kalu had few months ago undertook a trip to South Africa where he visited three ex-Presidents, and also took part in the ANC campaign launch which saw the party winning the last presidential poll.

    Recalling his withdrawal from the Senate Deputy Presidency race, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain said he took the step following the decision of his party.

    Senator Kalu said: “I stood down because having learnt from Mandela the dictates of party supremacy, it would amount to a betrayal of my learning to go against the party’s consensus,” adding, “Mandela had once told me how he wanted Cyril to be his deputy, but the party leadership thought otherwise, a decision Mandela actually respected.”

    On Nigeria, the Forbes-rated billionaire said the country “will fare better if politicians, irrespective of their party affiliations, respect party supremacy.”

    “That way, we will be able to build a political culture that derives its powers from the party manifesto and programmes.”

    Kalu decried the rate at which African leaders hold on to power, instead of emulating Nelson Mandela, saying “Africa today does not seem to appreciate the meaning that he (Mandela) brought to life on the continent.”

    “Mandela opted for only a single term in office, he voluntarily opted out for a second tenure. Out of office, he became more powerful and significant as a global force than he was in office. With that, he demonstrated that one does not necessarily need an endless term of office to positively impact on his society or to remain relevant.”

    Kalu added: “Africans have suffered so much under visionless and oppressive leadership that the people are looking forward to another Mandela to give them hope for tomorrow.”

  • Obasanjo obsessed with National Conference — Yari

    The immediate past governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari on Friday faulted ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo for calling for a new National Conference to address Nigeria’s security challenges.

    Yari in a statement in Abuja through his media aide, Ibrahim Dosara, urged all political leaders to eschew bitterness and support security agencies to restore law and order.

    The ex-governor who was reacting to Obasanjo’s latest letter to President Muhammadu Buhari on the state of the nation’s security said it was during the tenure of the former president that many innocent citizens were gunned down by security personnel in Zaki Biam, Benue State, and Odi in Bayelsa State.

    He said security challenges, particularly terrorism, is not peculiar to Nigeria.

    He called for an end to blame games on the challenges confronting the nation.

    He said: “In his letter, Obasanjo called for national conference. The former leader has been obsessed with conferences since the one he organized in 2005 to perpetuate himself in power through third term failed woefully.

    “My keen observations of recent political development across the country are pointing to series of needless efforts by some elements across the country aimed at destroying our rich diversity and heritage for obvious political reasons.

    “These efforts are targeted at reducing the country into the feckless North-South divide, first-class – second-class citizens, or Muslim-Christian dichotomy. This is indeed worrisome and pointless at this time of Nigeria’s history and stage of development.”

    The ex-governor said no country is immune from political and security problems which are applicable in the country.

    He added: “There is no gainsaying the fact that no country in the world is free from some challenges, ranging from security to politics. These challenges vary from one country to another, based on some indices such as geography, politics, economy, culture, education, history, among others.

    Read Also: State of the nation: Obasanjo is not neutral, says Presidency

    “Nigeria, therefore, can’t claim to be an exception. Indeed, our country has its own challenges resulting from the above-named factors. Like all other countries, all hands must be on deck to surmount these challenges by all and sundry.”

    He said terrorism, being presently plaguing the nation, has been ravaging the world for a decade.

    He said: “Security challenges, particularly terrorism is one issue that has dominated the world scene for more than a decade. And Nigeria is not immune from it. Other forms of challenges facing the country now, which the security agencies and the political leadership are bent on overcoming, include banditry, kidnapping for ransom, armed robbery, ritual killings, herders-farmers clashes, among others.

    “It is imperative to say that some elements from the South-West and the South-East in particular, are making political capital out of the current challenges at the detriment of the overall commonwealth of the country and its people. This is indeed a dangerous and unfortunate trend.

    “There is no doubting the fact that there is internal security challenges across the country. What is, however, not correct to do, is to geo-politicize it and blame it on a particular section of the country, or an ethnic group.

    “Apart from the Boko Haram insurgency which killed thousands of Nigerians in the Northeastern states of Yobe, Borno, and Adamawa in particular, and other parts of the country in general, the banditry in Zamfara, Kaduna, Sokoto, as well as communal clashes in Benue, Plateau, Taraba, recorded the highest human and capital casualty.

    “It is worrisome that while some political actors have lost their voices when the people of the North-West and North-Central are at the receiving end of these murderous activities of bandits and communal warriors, the same people woke up from their slumber when some singular incidents happened in southern parts of the country.

    “These same political elements threw all decorum to the air and dressed themselves in ethnic and sectional garbs, making inflammatory statements capable of incinerating this country and tearing it apart as if they have another country than Nigeria.”

    The ex-governor faulted the stigmatization of Fulani in the country as criminals.

    He said: “Their stereotyping and labelling of criminals is one of the worst forms of unpatriotic actions they have embarked upon. World over, those who commit criminal acts are called criminals irrespective of their colour, race, ethnicity, or religious affinity.  But that is not the case in Nigeria. All criminal activities now are associated with the Fulanis. It is Fulani herdsmen, and Fulani kidnappers.

    “This is a worrisome dimension and the criminals are enjoying it. Instead of nipping the crime in the bud or going after the criminals, the country is now reduced to labelling and name-calling of the crime suspects rather than ensuring that the criminals are apprehended and made to face the full wrath of the law.

    “This abhorrent ethnic-labelling of criminal activities, if left unchecked, will lead us to a situation totally unacceptable.

    “The outrage that followed the killing Mrs. Funke Olakunrin, daughter of a leader of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, Pa Reuben Fasoranti, along Ore-Shagamu Expressway recently, was understandable because human life is involved.

    “But the sensational of the murder by the media, which quickly labeled the criminals as Fulani herdsmen was unfortunate.

    “Prominent Yoruba political leaders used the opportunity to make some divisive comments and called for the dismemberment of Nigeria over the murder of the lady.

    “In fact, a former Nigerian leader, whose tenure was replete with the mass killings of helpless Nigerians and carving of territories by insurgents, described the killing as an act of terrorism during a visit to the bereaved father.

    “While others used the opportunity to call for secession, another one used it as a letter-writing opportunity to unleash his encapsulated anger against the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “It was on record that during the tenure of ex- President Olusegun Obasanjo there were massacres in Zaki Biam in Benue state, and Odi in Bayelsa state.

    “The murderous Sharia riots of Kaduna occurred during his tenure. It was also during his regime that the seeds of carnage on the Plateau was planted. He seems to have forgotten all these ‘remarkable’ feats he recorded as president.

    “This is apart from the high profile assassinations of a serving minister, Bola Ige, and opposition stalwart Harry Marshall.”

  • What do Jonathan and wife want in Bayelsa?

    Not many Nigerians will contest the position that former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is one of the luckiest men in the political history of Nigeria. The Otuoke born university lecturer, who later became a Deputy Director of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Development Commission had no inkling of what political destiny and exposure awaited him when he was prodded to wade into the political space in Bayelsa. Those conversant with the politics of Bayelsa would readily attest to the fact that Jonathan was one beneficiary of the political magnanimity of a group of Ijaw people who foisted a career that was to take him to the peak of politics in the country.

    An influential former Chief Judge of Bayelsa State, the late Justice Igoniwari, introduced the reluctant Jonathan to the duo of the late Chief Gordon Bozimo and former Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, who provided what later turned out to be the fertile ground for Jonathan’s ascendancy in the politics of Nigeria when he made him his running mate in the 1999 gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State. Six years later, Jonathan became the chief beneficiary of the political travails of his boss, Alamieyesigha, which eventually culminated in his controversial impeachment by a coerced Bayelsa Assembly. Thus, Jonathan became the governor of Bayelsa State without the traditional gruelling political processes of candidate selection and electoral contest. In 2007, former President Olusegun Obasanjo paired Jonathan with the late former President Umaru Yar’Adua as the latter’s running mate. He became Vice President and later Acting President and President with the death of Yar’Adua.

    The story of Jonathan portrays the story of an accidental politician who an interplay of factors have combined to reward with coveted political positions out of no efforts of his. Sadly, this political fortune of Jonathan has not translated to a story of ‘Goodluck’ for the People’s Democratic Party at the national and the state level. The PDP, its leaders and the Bayelsa State Government are the first casualties of what later turned out to be Jonathan mismanaged relationships in the politics of Nigeria.

    In spite of the monumental goodwill that was put at the disposal of Jonathan, the former President has a character flaw which eventually opened the floodgate of detrimental political events that got to the painful denouement of his political defeat by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015. Precisely, Jonathan suffered a shocking loss of prized relationships considered invaluable to the health of his political career because the overbearing influence of his wife and former First Lady, Mrs. Patience Jonathan, whose excesses have been blamed for the series of negative reversals that rocked his career. Perhaps, a few instances which are not too far from Nigeria’s immediate political awareness would suffice.

    It is common knowledge in political circles that former Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon Rotimi Amaechi, was a close ally of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Amaechi, who played a critical role in the election of Jonathan, maintained a healthy relationship which thrives on the time tested ethos of sacrifice and mutual understanding until Jonathan’s wife appeared and took the once valued relationship to the shredders. She provoked Amaechi with her meddlesomeness in Rivers State and made brazen attempts to create her own sphere of governance and influence within the state.

    Sadly, like Emperor Nero who fiddled while Rome burnt, Jonathan ignored the excesses of his Czarina and refused to exert the expected authority of a leader until it became too late. Amaechi waited for that crucial stitch that could have saved nine, but it did not come, so he sought survival elsewhere. Nigerians don’t need to be reminded how an embittered Amaechi, a powerful ally who had done things in common with Jonathan, metamorphosed into the leader of a lethal nest of political traducers who wrested political controls from the sleepy talons of Jonathan, even as an incumbent leader. An embittered Amaechi led six other governors of the PDP to walk out on Jonathan during the PDP convention of 2013.

    Again, a cursory look at Jonathan’s relationships with his political benefactors from 1999 to date would readily show that the former President is not blessed with the virtue of gratitude. First, Alamieyeseigha, the man who destiny used to usher Jonathan to the political terrain, died in penury and lamentation while Jonathan held sway as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Is it not also a fact beyond contestation that Jonathan as President was nowhere near the burial of Alamieyeseigha and Gordon Bozimo, the men who accepted to make Jonathan Deputy Governor when Justice Igoniwari broached the idea to them? The medical and burial bills of both men were picked up by the Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson while their political experiment presided over the affairs of Nigeria.

    Again, Jonathan, in characteristic manner, refused to act when his wife, Patience Jonathan, went after his relationship with Dickson, reputed to be one of his strongest political associates and friends. The former First Lady added Dickson to the enemy list when he rejected her offer to make the Special Adviser Domestic, Mr. Waripamowei Dudafa, his running mate. Dickson, who was the governorship candidate of the PDP, opted for a retired career military officer, Rear Admiral Gboribiogha John Jonah, as his running mate, and this singular action drew the ire of the uncontrolled Patience Jonathan.

    Like a provoked empress on a mission to settle scores, Patience Jonathan initiated several subversive actions against Dickson in her heyday as First Lady. These actions range from the frustrated attempt to remove Dickson’s name from the list of contestants to organising Bayelsa women to stone him in an event he organised in honour of her husband in Yenagoa. Patience Jonathan went wild, raged against Dickson and poured a corrosive acid on a relationship that had produced the President and a governor, yet Jonathan became a captive of his inability to control his wife.

    The attempt to remove Dickson from the ballot in 2011 was foiled by the Federal High Court presided over by Justice Gladys Olotu. Today, Olotu is alive to tell the story of the venomous reaction of Patience Jonathan who exploited the vast influence of her office under Jonathan to sack her from the judiciary. Sadly, in the case of Olotu, it was even Jonathan that approved the compulsory retirement of the judge.

    On February 15, 2015, the excesses of the former First Lady under the defunct Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, threw Bayelsa and the Ijaw nation into great anguish when Mrs Elisabeth Oguru, the wife of then Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Alison Oguru, and 10 other prominent Bayelsa female politicians were burnt to death in a ghastly motor accident at Ahoada while returning from a purported two-day solidarity visit to Mrs Jonathan in her country home at Okrika, Rivers State. Painfully, the top female politicians met their untimely death because of the subversive activities of Mrs Jonathan against the Bayelsa State Government.

    Jonathan cuts the image of a tragic hero whose character flaw—the lack of capacity to act in the face of glaring evil—has made to lose all relationships with key players in his political life. He is like Prophet Eli, who ignored the heinous immoral conduct of his sons only to attract the punishment of God and his eventual loss of priesthood to Samuel.

    The lack of decisive action and the tendency of clandestine support for evil turned former President, Chief Olusegun, Obasanjo who played a key role in Jonathan’s emergence as Vice President, to fall out with him. An embittered Obasanjo shocked the Nigerian nation when he wrote Jonathan a letter titled “Before it is too late” on December 2, 2013. Although the letter gave a clear indication of a breakdown in relationship between Jonathan and his chief political benefactor, he looked the other way in his characteristics.

    Curiously, in spite of the tragic fallout of Jonathan’s inept reaction to the relational mishaps traceable to his uncontrollable wife, the former President seems to have continued with the nonchalance, even in the politics of Bayelsa. He has allowed politicians around him to perpetrate acts of subversion against the State Government while he cuts the image of the victim. It is even more agitating that the former President kept mum when soldiers and other security agencies were unleashed on Bayeksa and Rivers states during the last National Assembly elections. The former President did not say a word in support of the PDP when soldiers gunned down a PDP Ward Chairman and a Government House photographer, Mr. Reginald Dei.

    As a former President, the logical mind would have expected that Jonathan’s presence would provide a boost to internal cohesion within the PDP. Ironically, the opposite is the case. The former President is engrossed in latching unto the gubernatorial ambition of Timi Alaibe to intensify his covert subversive activities against the Government. He wields two battle axes in this renewed mission to destroy the PDP in Bayelsa—his wife Patience Jonathan and King AJ Turner. Since 2012, Jonathan has not contributed to the building of the PDP under whose platforms he has occupied all the coveted political positions in Nigeria.

    As a former President, many Bayelsans are still in shock that they produced a President who never helped the state out of it developmental challenges. And the people cannot help wondering what the former President and his wife really want in this absurd mission they have taken upon themselves to destroy the PDP ahead of the governorship election in November while they intensify discreet negotiation with Chief Timipre Sylva, who they believe will get the ticket of the All Progressives Congress. With the ominous signals from the antics of those who don’t mean well for the PDP and its internal cohesion in Bayeksa, the national leadership of the party would not need a seer to tell them to take the requisite steps to avert an impending danger before it is too late.

    • James Oputin, Secretary General of PDP Youths Network, writes from Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

  • Revealed: Desperate, callous manner Siasia’s mother was abducted

    Odoni, a riverine community in Sagabama Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, was unusually quiet on Tuesday. The tarred road to the sleefrom the Sampou junction along the East-West Road was lonely. Sampou is a neighboring community to Odoni.

    Travelers to Odoni first begin their journey from Sampou road, but within a minute, the road branches off to Odoni. It was a mild sunny mid-day and the road begged for activities. Nobody was seen trekking. No vehicles. Only the deafening sound of a motorcycle hurrying to get to its destination was heard occasionally. Within five minutes of driving, a signboard indicating the community led to another detour.

    The road dividing Odoni was lonelier. Bungalows without perimeter fences were seen at both sides of the road. One of the buildings on the left side of the road is the ancestral home of Samson Siasia, a former coach and player of the Super Eagles.

    Madam Beauty Ogere, the 80-year-old mother of the former skipper was abducted from the apartment on Monday. Signs and sounds of the sinister operation carried out by the gunmen were still fresh. Odoni is divided into three. They are Tamo Odoni, Bekubo and Opogi. The Siasias belong to Tamo Odoni.

    Beauty never knew that danger lurked around when she went to sleep on Sunday, July 14. Maybe her last son, Amananowei, had a premonition. Amananowei, who is about 40 years old, did not sleep in the house that night. While he had always slept in the house, on that particular day, he claimed that his wife was sick and needed some drugs. He went to buy the drugs but failed to come back. So, only Beauty and her 93-year-old husband, Harrison Siasia, were left in the house.

    The evil operation

    The unknown and unnumbered night marauders came through the River Nun, located a few kilometres away from the house. In the cover of darkness, they marched through the streets while residents snored away. They arrived at about 2 am and in no time got to the building of their victim. It was as easy as they come, but they shattered the peace of the sleeping community.

    There were signs that they knew the exact location of their victim. They knew the window that led to the room. Therefore, they tried to gain access to Beauty’s room through the window. Having torn the window net, they made some attempts but failed because of the iron protector used to secure the window.

    They came to the main entrance to the house and met an iron gate. Elizabeth, one of Siasia’s sisters, who lives in the community, said they broke the padlock used for the see-through gate and proceeded to the main entrance door. Signs on the door showed they hit it with a hammer and forced it open. They made their way through the living room into Beauty’s room.

    Already, the aged woman knew there was danger. She was awake screaming for help, but there was nobody around to assist her. They bundled the unwilling woman out of the house as she sobbed and pleaded for mercy.

    In his account, Pa Harrison, the oldest man in the community, said he was helpless as the abductors showed no mercy. Describing himself as the king of the town. He said: “I was in my bedroom when all these things were happening. But they could not enter my room. I locked myself inside. But if they had entered my room, I would have shown them my power. Nobody can fight with me and kill me.

    “I heard the noise as they were taking my wife away. I was shouting and telling them, ‘if you are a man, I am here, come. Open my door and come. I will deal with you.’ They were afraid of me. I didn’t come out until they left. But I didn’t know they came to take my wife. It was later I heard her voice saying, ‘They came to take me again’.

    “I felt very sad. Why will they come and take my wife again? The first time, they abducted her and she slept 10 days in the bush. Now they came and took her again. What did she do to them? This Odoni is becoming something else. The last time they took her, we paid N60,000 ransom.

    “I am worried that they have not even called. They took her without her mobile handset. They didn’t even allow her to take her drugs. My wife is hypertensive and she is on drugs. How will she survive? I am asking them to return my wife quickly. My wife has done nothing to you people. Bring my wife back to me. We have no money to pay.”

    One kidnap too many

    Elizabeth, the elder sister to Samson Siasia, has been around the house since the incident occurred. She described the second kidnap as one too many.

    “I am close to her and I come every day to take care of them. I was called on the telephone that Mama had been abducted again. When I came to the house, I saw everywhere scattered.

    “They ransacked her room, maybe looking for money and other valuables. These people lack the fear of God. There is no respect any more. I feel pain that they abducted a woman at that age,” she said.

    In fact, the incident has unsettled the Siaisa family. None of them imagined that after surviving the first abduction, the ailing woman would return to kidnappers’ den a second time. On 16th November 2015, about four years ago, a similar fate befell Beauty. In a similar operation and at the same time of 2 am, unknown gunmen attacked their house and whisked her away.

    She spent days in an unknown camp and ransom was later paid to secure her release. Then, Samson Siasia was a coach of the Nigerian U-23 football team. In fact, a few days after he arrived Gambia with his team for the Olympic Game, Siasia got the unfortunate news of his mother’s abduction.

    Siasia’s cousin, Collins Egbeya, was one of the early visitors immediately the incident occurred. Egbeya has not been scarce around the house. He said they were nor expecting another abduction after the first one and lamented that the victim was too old to be mishandled by anybody.

    Asked how he got to know about the abduction, he said: “I read about it in The Nation newspaper online. Immediately I read it, I was not happy, because this is the second time this thing is happening. I don’t know what the old woman did to them for them to come and kidnap her.

    “So, I was not happy and I had to rush down to the community. But before I came down, I called his other cousin who is in the community. He confirmed it.

    “I am begging the kidnappers in the name of God to please return her. We are pleading with them in the name of God. They should please release her unconditionally. We don’t have money. The woman is old and should not be subjected to any harsh treatment.”

    Egbeya said they were worried that the kidnappers took her without her drugs and mobile handset, adding that days after the abduction, they had yet to establish contact with any member of the family.

    “We are worried. The entire community is worried. We are begging them in the name of God to return her. We are pleading in the name of God,” he said.

    Also, Dennis, a younger brother of Coach Siasia, confirmed the abduction lamenting that the marauders took away their mother without her hypertensive drugs and mobile phone.

    He said: “The abductors have not contacted the family. We have reported to the police. She was taken away without taking along her drugs. Even if they ask her for our numbers, she would not be able to help because she cannot recall mobile numbers. We are full of prayers and hoping she would be released soon.”

    Dennis spoke on Tuesday before the kidnappers reportedly demanded a ransom of N70million.

    ‘They also took my 66-year-old mother and her 17-year-old sister’

    Beauty was not the only victim of the nocturnal onslaught. As the gunmen took Beauty and made their way out of the community, they stormed another house along a concrete road. In a similar style of operation, they broke into the house and made their way to a room where a 66-year-old woman was sleeping alongside her 17-year-old daughter. They ransacked the room, turning it inside out. They seized the woman and her granddaughter and whisked them away. They escaped through the River Nun on speedboats.

    Donana Amabetare is the son of the woman. Amabetare lives in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he hustles to make ends meet. He identified her mother as Mrs. Florence Semitare Donana. He, however, wondered why any of his family members would be targeted for kidnapping.

    “I don’t know why they chose to kidnap members of my family. Among all the buildings along the road, why did they isolate our own to attack? We don’t have any prominent person in this family. Only my elder brother runs a funeral service and the money he makes is barely enough to feed,” he said.

    Speaking further, he said: “I live in Port Harcourt. I was called in the night that my mum had been kidnapped. So, when I came, we found that the parlour door was broken. The room door was also broken, and both of them were kidnapped. They scattered the whole room.

    “They took her through the waterways. I don’t know why all these things are happening. We are peace-loving people. We don’t have problem with people. We don’t even have the money, so we are surprised, because we don’t exactly know what is happening.”

    Amabetare said he was worried about her younger sister who just finished her secondary school and how the incident would affect her psyche. He asked the kidnappers not to molest her sister and to bring them back unhurt.

    He said: “When I heard the news, I felt so sad because it was something that we never expected. But we are believing that with the help of the community and security and everybody, they will come back to us. We are appealing to the kidnappers to release them unconditionally.

    “My mom was very sick. Last week, before the incident, I bought drugs for her and she was on drugs even when she was kidnapped. She even went to the hospital. She didn’t go with her drugs. They went with her phone, but since then, the phone has been switched off. So, we are waiting for them to make a contact.”

    Police launch manhunt

    The police in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Butswat Asinim, said they had launched a manhunt to locate the whereabouts of the kidnappers and rescue the victims.

    Confirming the incident, Butswat said: “On 15 July, 2019 at about 0200hours, unknown gunmen who were heavily armed came through the waterways of the River Nun and invaded the residence of one Mrs Beauty Siasia, ‘f’ 80 years in the riverine village of Odoni, Sagbama Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, and whisked her away through the waterways to an unknown destination.

    “The Commissioner of Police Bayelsa State Command and the command’s Tactical Team have visited the scene of the crime. The command in collaboration with other security stakeholders have launched manhunt to apprehend the killers and rescue the victim. Investigation is ongoing.”

    Shortly after the statement, the Commissioner of Police, Uche Anozia, visited the scene of the crime on the same day and assessed the route the kidnappers took to the home of the Siasias. Anozia was also found in the community the next day as the police continued with their investigations.

    Although no suspect had been arrested, a source from the community asked the police to work with the theory of an insider operation. The source, who spoke in confidence, said everybody around the woman should be investigated. He said the mode of operation showed that someone inside the house must have been involved in it.

    “When they came, they went straight to the exact window of the woman’s room. After they failed to access the room through the window, they broke into the house through the living room. They moved straight to the woman’s room and took her. There is something wrong somewhere. How come that was the only day the woman and her husband were left alone in the house?” he wondered.

  • Relocation call: Miyetti Allah, others disown northern elders

    The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria, an umbrella association of the Fulani in the country, on Saturday disowned the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) and the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) over calls by NEF and CNG that Fulani herders in southern Nigeria should relocate to the north in their own interest.

    The Professor Ango Abdullahi-led NEF and the CNG had launched a campaign to pressurise herders in the south to relocate to the north, citing alleged hostility and rejection of the Ruga scheme in southern states.

    The two groups claimed that the herders and their cattle were no longer safe in the south.

    But MACBAN and Gan Allah said on Friday that NEF and CNG were on their own in the campaign.

    They said herders were not interested in leaving the south or heeding the call to relocate anywhere.

    They also threatened to take legal action against NEF and CNG for making unsolicited statements that are capable of endangering the lives of their members across the country, especially in southern states.

    However, Professor Abdullahi said yesterday that NEF required no group’s permission to speak for herders.

    The National Secretary General of Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria, Ibrahim Abdullahi, told The Nation on Friday that neither the CNG nor NEF consulted any Fulani group before making what he described as inflammatory statements.

    “I saw the statement by the association which calls itself Coalition of Northern Groups, and I have also read that the Northern Elders Forum which also supported the call by the so called coalition.

    “Our take is that we have not commissioned them to talk on our behalf,” Abdullahi said.

    “The Fulani people in Nigeria have their associations and their leadership. If there is any need for us to make such a call, we would make it and not assign anybody to do that on our behalf. They did not contact us in any way before taking that decision.”

    Abdullahi who explained that he was holding a critical meeting with herders’ host communities in the South West at the time NEF and CHGs issued their statements, said he was embarrassed by the comments.

    His words: “When they made that call, I, in my capacity as the national secretary general of Gan Allah Fulani Development Association of Nigeria, was in the South West discussing with the stakeholders on how to ensure that our people stay together with their host communities in peace.

    “When I saw that statement, in fact, I was in a meeting with some leadership of the OPC in Osun State and we were having fruitful discussions. When I saw the statement that Fulanis should leave the south, I was embarrassed.

    “We don’t subscribe to that kind of call and those people don’t represent our interest and our people.

    “We want to use this medium to warn them to stop discussing issues that affect our people without contacting us in any way.

    “Their action will not help the cause of our people but rather endanger them.”

    Continuing, Abdullahi said: “We want to call on them to desist from making such inflammatory statements.

    “We know our people have problems and we know how to respond to our problems.

    “We are not afraid of fighting anybody if the need arises. What we are trying to do is to ensure that our people live in peace with their neighbours.

    “Northern Elders Forum or no elders forum, coalition or no coalition, they should not make any statement that concerns our people without contacting us, otherwise, we are going to take legal action against them.”

    Abdullahi’s postion was supported by the Assistant Secretary of Miyetti Allah in Oyo State, Adams Abdulkadir.

    In a separate interview with The Nation, Abdulkadir said: “People like us will not support the call that they made as long as we are living here in peace with our hosts.

    “There is no cause for alarm. The group Northern Elders Forum, as they call themselves, and Miyetti Allay Cattle Rearers Association, are entirely different organisations.

    “They cannot be representing or having the interest of another organsation. We are planning on taking legal action against them if they continue doing that.”

    Also contacted, the National Secretary of Miyetti Allah, Engineer Saleh Bayari, said: “As an organisation, we totally reject the statement by NEF.

    Read Also: Farmers-herders conflicts: Miyetti Allah seeks CAN collaboration on solutions

    “It was unnecessary, unwarranted and a distraction from the challenges that our pastoralists are facing.

    “You can’t just wake up and tell herders to leave where they are doing their legitimate business of cattle rearing. It is all part of the plot to destabilise the current government.

    “They are desperate to destabilise the government and give the impression that there is instability in the country. All the same, they are working for the opposition PDP. We know them.

    “Our members have not told us that they are facing any threat. These people are working with disgruntled politicians to create tension in the polity.

    “Are they herders? They are not herders now. We are a political group and we would handle it politically.

    ”We are not happy because they are putting our people on the spot. Cattle rearing is not like achaba (commercial motorcycle) business that you can decide one day to pack it in Dangote trailer and start coming to the north.

    “We hold Ango Abdulahi in high esteem. But if he continues to hobnob with the disgruntled coalition, we will not be happy with him.”

    We don’t need your permission to speak, Ango replies Fulani leaders

    Contacted on Friday, Professor Ango Abdullahi said NEF did not need to consult with any group for it to speak for herdsmen facing threats in the south.

    He said the matter at hand has been politicised as the Fulani leaders were speaking from the comfort of their homes and not speaking for those facing threats in the field.

    He said: “If the Fulani are feeling safe where they are, they should continue staying where they are. But if they are not, what we are saying is that they should come back to safety.

    “You should know that there are very many Fulani groups. Those who are speaking are probably not speaking for all the Fulani, especially those in the areas where we are receiving complaints from.

    “This matter has turned political, and we should find a way of resolving it politically.

    “Meanwhile, as Northern Elders Forum, we don’t need to consult the Fulani leaders. I only need to hear complaints from those that are complaining.

    “The so called leaders have been speaking from their comfort wherever they are. But those who are in the bush and facing threats are the ones that are complaining.”

    Prof Abdullahi had said the demand that herders should relocate to the north was borne out of the realization that the lives of Fulani herders were being put at risk on the strength of the actions and utterances of Southern Governors lately.

    He said: “We are worried about their (herders) well-being. If it is true that their safety can no longer be guaranteed, we’ll rather have them back in areas where their safety is guaranteed.

    “The bottom line is that their safety is far more important than their stay there. This is a country we all wish to keep together and not at the expense of other sections.”

    The coalition’s spokesman, Abdul-Aziz Sulaiman, who presented their position to the elders, claimed that southern governors had arrogated to themselves the powers to decide which category of herdsmen will be allowed to live in the South and others they tagged criminal elements.

    According to him, the situation was worsened after a section of the southern leadership introduced a fresh round of instigation by indiscriminately blaming the death of the daughter elder statesman Fasoranti on Fulani herdsmen and threatened reprisals on northerners, contrary to the account of her driver and the official explanation by the police that the culprits were yet to be identified.

    The following day, Wednesday, President Muhammadu Buhari asked Nigerians to ignore the NEF/CNGs campaign.

    He declared: “All citizens of Nigeria are free to move and live within any part of the country they please, whether or not they are originally from there.

    “In line with our country’s constitution, the government of Nigeria and the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari will protect citizens of Nigeria wherever they find themselves. “No one has the right to ask anyone or group to depart from any part of the country, whether north, south, east or west.”

  • Insecurity: NSCDC registers 16,000 vigilance groups in one year

    More and more communities across the country are setting up vigilance groups to secure lives and property following the increasing wave of banditry in many parts, an investigation by The Nation has shown.

    No fewer than 16000 such vigilance groups have been licensed by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the last one year.

    But there is a contentious issue between the vigilance groups and the NSCDC: use of arms.

    The groups are clamouring for permission to carry arms much against the wish of the corps.

    The fear is possible abuse of arms by non-professional security people.

    The Ohanaeze Ndigbo says over 2000 vigilance groups are currently operating in the South East to help tackle crimes.

    Its spokesman, Chuks Ibegbu, told The Nation that members of the vigilance groups should be allowed to bear arms, otherwise “hoodlums will eat them raw.”

    He said: “We have been meeting with traditional rulers and all town union leaders on the issue of security. We have vigilance groups in all autonomous communities in the South East.

    “We have over 2,000 vigilante groups across the South East. We want the federal government to do everything possible to ensure constant power supply because most of our people in the South East depend on it for survival.

    “The government is saying that they should not bear arms. If they don’t bear arms, how would they combat crimes?

    Read Also: Insecurity: Sad tales of how local security men receive  peanuts monthly

    “They shouldn’t be barred from using guns. Rather, the guns should be licensed.

    “If they are not allowed guns, hoodlums will eat them raw. We are against any plan to stop vigilance groups from using arms. They should be trained on how to use arms.”

    The National Publicity Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, cautioned against the proliferation of vigilance groups.

    State and local governments, he said, “must provide a framework in which they must operate, or else some of them may turn into ethnic militants or religious terrorists, which is a security threat to the nation.

    “Politics has provided an avenue for politicians to form informal security outfits comprising mostly thugs around them, which in most cases snowball into terrorist groups and become a security threat to the community.

    “As a result, many innocent lives have been lost, properties destroyed and trust among various communities built over the years severely damaged.

    “Worst, endemic corruption that has eaten so deep into our polity, coupled with the advent of insurgency, armed robbery, kidnapping for ransom, bandits attacks, killings of innocent people and many other criminal activities, there is the need to strengthen neighborhood security outfits known as vigilante group to secure the community.

    National Secretary of Pan Niger Delta Forum, Dr Alfred Mulade, called for the deregulation of the nation’s security system.

    “Deregulating security means we have to create another tier of security and that takes us to the concept of state policing so that other tiers of government can also have the direct responsibility in the policing system of their people.

    “The central system as it stands today can no longer work. If you are bringing somebody from Zamfara to come and police a village in Ekiti where he doesn’t know anything about the people, he will find it difficult.

    “First of all, what he will first do is to find his feet on the ground, find his way, study the psychology of the people and how he will do his job.

    “Before he will be able to do all that, maybe one year or two have passed. The criminal elements will also take advantage of that. If you have people that are close to the communities being in charge of policing, it works better.

    “The argument of funding and use of local security to harass political opponents may not be true all the time. Even if you have a governor that is powerful, he will not be there all the time.

    “We need a system that we can build. If you build a system, a governor cannot just wake up one morning and begin to use it to harass his enemy. If all of us stand up to say this is how we should do it, then it stands.”

    On the use of arms by vigilance groups, Mulade said: “If we say that vigilance groups should carry arms, the question is, are they trained? They need to be properly trained and structured. You can’t just set up a vigilance group today and they begin to bear arms.

    “If you allow everybody to set up vigilance groups in every community, then it will become like self-help. It would work to some extent but it may not work on a larger scale.

    “We have to sit down and structure the security system. It is something that the central government cannot run away from. Any attempt to run away from it and allow everybody to defend themselves will lead to anarchy.

    “When state government coordinates vigilance groups, then what happens to the police? You want to change the name from police to vigilante group or what?  If the state government is doing that they have to control it properly. It has to be properly structured.

  • Edo Assembly crisis: Senate Committee meets Oshiomhole, Obaseki, others

    The Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Edo Assembly crisis has met with the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, Governor Godwin Obaseki and other stakeholders.

    Also, it was learnt on Friday that no action can be taken on the resolutions of the House of Representatives until the Senate concludes its investigation.

    Security agencies were being cautious at press time, pending the joint resolutions of the two chambers.

    According to investigation conducted by our correspondent, while the Senate Committee had audience with Obaseki in Benin on Wednesday, the same panel met with Oshiomhole on Thursday in Abuja.

    The committee interacted with the disputed Speaker, Rt. Hon. Frank Okiye, Clerk of the Edo State House of Assembly (EDHA), Alhaji Audu Yahaya Omogbai and members of the Assembly from the two factions.

    A reliable source, who spoke in confidence, said: “So far, all the stakeholders stood their grounds for or against the inauguration of Edo Assembly.

    “The Speaker and the Clerk insisted that the Assembly was legally inaugurated with evidence of more members taking up their seats in the chamber.

    Read Also: Govt: Reps lack power to shut down Edo Assembly

    “But the other legislators faulted the inauguration and demanded a fresh convening of the Assembly to elect principal officers.

    “The committee has two extreme ends to reconcile based on facts and figures made available to it. We will do justice in a manner that will protect the sanctity of the legislature and ensure peace in the state.”

    Another source said: “The committee met Oshiomhole on Thursday in Abuja where he restated his commitment to peace in Edo State which he governed for eight years. Governor Godwin Obaseki spoke in the same light on the need for peace in the state.

    “He told us his views on the way forward. We will harmonise all positions for amicable reconciliation.”

    Meanwhile, there were indications that the security agencies cannot enforce the resolution of the House of Representatives until the Senate concludes its investigation.

    A principal officer in the National Assembly said: “Actually, security agencies cannot act on the directive of the House to take over Edo Assembly until the Senate committee finishes its assignment.

    “The Constitution talks of the National Assembly but not a chamber. We have two chambers which must agree on a common position.”

    Section 11(4) of the 1999 Constitution states, “At any time when any House of Assembly of a state is unable to perform its functions by reason of the situation prevailing in that state, the National Assembly may make such laws for the peace, order and good government of that state with respect to matters on which a House of Assembly may make laws as may appear to the National Assembly to be necessary or expedient until such time as the House of Assembly is able to resume its functions; and any such laws enacted by the National Assembly pursuant to this section shall have effect as if they were laws enacted by the House of Assembly of the state: Provided that nothing in this section shall be construed as conferring on the National Assembly power to remove the governor or the deputy governor of the state from office.”

    When contacted, the Chairman of the Senate Committee, Sen. Aliyu Sabi said: “We are still working but we have met with all relevant stakeholders.

    “We are not expected to make any comment on what the House of Representatives discussed or our activities.

    “We are working round the clock to evaluate and prepare our report.”

    Other members of the committee include Chukwuka Utazi, Gabriel Suswam, Aisha Ahmed (Binani) and Ahmed Kaita.

  • Court ‘ll decide El-Zakzaky’s fate – Presidency

    The Presidency on Friday urged the El- Zakzaky-led Shiite members to allow the court decide the fate of their leader.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, appealed to the Shiite members to desist from needless violent street protests and await the decision of the court in Kaduna where their leader is being tried.

    Garba said: “The issue of El-ZakZaky is before the court in Kaduna and his supporters should focus on his on-going trial instead of causing daily damages, disruptions and public nuisance in Abuja.

    “It is wrong to be in court and resort to violence at the same time in order to get justice for anybody accused.

    “The destruction of public property in the name of protest is not within the right of this group of Shiite members and no government anywhere would have tolerated a situation where any group would take over public roads in cities as they have done in Abuja and interfere with the rights of other citizens who are prevented from reaching their destinations.

    “We imagine a situation where families are taking their loved ones to hospital for emergency treatment and they are held up needlessly by the protesters. No government anywhere in the world would turn a blind eye to this unlawful behavior.”

    Read Also: Lawmaker condemns NASS invasion by Shiite members

    According to him, the Federal Government no longer have hand in the matter.

    “As far as this country’s Ministry of Justice is concerned, the case involving El-Zakzaky is no longer in its domain.

    “The Federal Government no more has hands in the matter and to that extent, the government at the centre can be said to be clear of any alleged violations of court orders as being trumpeted everyday.

    “These rallies and street dances ostensibly to openly insult the President and other leaders, threatening bloodshed will lead nowhere because President Buhari will not ask the country’s judiciary to abandon due process and set a suspect free.

    “At the same time, the administration is determined to enforce the decision of the court clearly issued. The Buhari administration has absolutely no hand in the on-going court case and the courts are free to determine the bail request and the final outcome.

    “The mentality that you are above the law and that your own rights are superior to other people’s rights is unacceptable.

    “You can’t be provoking other citizens by interfering with their own rights on public roads and disrupting their businesses and call it democratic freedom. In democratic traditions, their rights end where the rights of others begin.

    “Law abiding citizens must avoid deliberate lawlessness. It is not within the rights of any group to enter protected public institutions such as the National Assembly by force to attack police and destroy public and private property.

    He noted that it is always advisable to embrace dialogue and eschew violence so that Nigerians can continue to live together in peace.

    “We therefore appeal to the Shiite group to stop deliberate provocations that result in violence and fatalities and allow the trial of El-ZakZaky to take its course.” he stated

  • El-Zakzaky is being poisoned in detention, Shi’ites allege

    The followers of Shi’ites leader Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky have alleged that he is being poisoned in detention.

    This came as a Kaduna State High Court adjourned hearing in El-Zakzaky’s application for permission for him and his wife, Zinat, to travel to India for medical attention.

    The leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) and his wife had applied to the court seeking to travel for medical attention in view of their failing health condition while in detention.

    However, the Free Zakzaky Committee of the IMN in a statement it issued after the court sitting accused the court of failing to stand for truth and justice against tyranny and impunity.

    They alleged that their leader was obviously being poisoned in detention, claiming that “Zakzaky has more than 20 times the toxic levels of lead poison in his body”.

    The State Director of Public Prosecution, Mr. Dari Bayero, who briefed reporters after the hearing, said the adjournment was sequel to an application by the team of counsel prosecuting the IMN leader.

    He said the team requested for time to examine the medical reports that accompanied IMN leader’s application and authenticate its genuineness before putting up their argument before the court.

    Justice Darius Khobo granted the request and adjourned till July 29.

    Read Also: Ndubuisi-Chukwu: Youth council wants S’African govt to find killers

    The IMN leader brought the application before the court seeking permission to travel to Medanta Hospital, New Delhi, India for medical attention following his failing health condition.

    El-Zakzaky, in the application, said if granted the permission to travel, he and his wife would return to Nigeria as soon as they are discharged upon the satisfied medical report.

    The IMN leader has been in detention since 2015 and he is standing trial for alleged culpable homicide, unlawful assembly and disruption of public peace among other charges in another court.

    Justice Gideon Kurada, who was handling the case, on April 25, adjourned the trial of the IMN leader indefinitely.

    The indefinite adjournment was to enable the judge to serve on the panel of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal in Yobe.

    Before the indefinite adjournment, the court had on January 22, ordered the Kaduna State Government to avail the IMN leader and his wife access to medical attention.

    Femi Falana (SAN), the lead counsel to the IMN leader, also told reporters after yesterday’s adjournment that his clients, El-Zakzaky and wife Zinat, were in dire need of medical attention.

    Falana said his clients had not been given adequate medical care since their detention on December 14, 2015.

    He expressed concern over the continued deterioration of his clients’ health.

    The rights lawyer expressed optimism that at the resumed hearing of the application on July 29, the court would grant them permission to travel for urgent medical attention.

    However, Free Zakzaky Committee in the statement signed by its chairman, Abdurrahman Abubakar Yola, said it was unfortunate that “the court once again shirked in its duties to be on the side of victims of extreme persecution by the government”.

    “When it mattered most, the court ducked and failed to stand for truth and justice against tyranny and impunity.”

    “The applicants are known to be very ill in detention, consequent on the brutal wounds unjustifiably inflicted on them by the state agents in the name of the Nigerian army, the resultant prolonged dehumanising detention in the custody of the Department of State Security (DSS) and the obvious poisoning of the Sheikh. As a result of all these physical and psychological stresses, the Sheikh suffered a series of mild strokes and is at the risk of further recurrences.

    “Meanwhile, he lost one eye following the military attack and is at severe risk of losing sight completely in the other. He is now found to have more than 20 times the toxic levels of lead poison in his body! Similarly, the wife has been under excruciating pains with shrapnel deeply lodged in her body for all these years of inhuman conditions in detention. She now is able to ambulate only with the use of a wheelchair. Even today, both were unable to walk to the courtroom and had to wait outside while the case went on.

    “In spite of all these, the court once again has allowed the government to kill these innocent people by instalments via unnecessary delays.”

  • Obasanjo’s letter to Buhari timely, says CAN

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Thursday supported the open letter by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to President Muhammadu Buhari, describing it as timely.

    CAN said the President should scrutinise the contents of the letter and curb the insecurity in the country which it said informed the letter in the first place.

    Responding to questions during a news conference in Abuja, CAN President, Rev. Samson Ayokunle, admonished Buhari to treat the letter with all sense of responsibility and accountability.

    He stated: “I think that this letter has just come up. But CAN is interested that the letter be treated with all sense of responsibility and accountability as a country because of the issues raised in it. I think the aim of the writer is to call the attention of the nation to things that are capable of putting fire on the nation.

    Read Also: Full text of Obasanjo’s open letter to president Buhari

    “We think that every Nigerian has the right as a part of the society to call the attention of leaders to order.”

    Citing the security situation in Taraba state, the Christian leader said the his Vice President, Rev. Caleb Ahima, could not travel out of his parish without military protection, noting that the state was under siege.

    He dismissed alleged demonisation of the Fulani ethnic group by other Nigerians, noting that the average Fulani man had always lived in peace with other citizens.

    Ayokunle distanced CAN from the solidarity visit to the founder of Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo, by the Federal Capital Territory chapter of the body,noting  the matter was still under investigation by the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria.

    He explained that the PFN would submit the report of its investigation in two weeks

    Ayokunle said, “I am telling you before God that PFN has set up a panel and that panel has started working and that panel has been given two weeks to submit its report on the investigation. No only that the two individuals concern have been invited by them and we are here assuring them that nothing will be covered.

    “We will never support immorality in whatever form. It is strange to the culture of the church and to the teachings of Christ. There is no pulpit I know in Nigeria that accepts immorality.”