The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Thailand to boost rice, cassava production in Nigeria

    Nigeria’s efforts towards reducing rice importation by 2014 got a boost Monday as Thailand promised to assist the country to boost its agricultural production.

    The assistance in agriculture sector would centre mainly on helping develop the nation’s processing ability in rice and cassava, with a view to adding value to the country’s agricultural production.

    Besides, Nigeria will also receive assistance in the area of solid minerals. In return Nigeria will provide teachers in English Language to Thailand under the Technical Aid Corp programme.

    They also agreed to double trade between the two countries from the current level of $1.5 billion USD to $3 billion USD in the next five years.

    These were some of the decisions reached during Monday’s political consultation between the two countries in Abuja where a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Establishment of Bilateral Consultations between the two countries were signed.

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru and Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Surapong Tovicchakchaikul signed for their respective countries.

    The MoU is expected to deepen and expand the level of political consultations between both countries on matters of regional and international interest.

     

  • Shekau died of gunshot wounds – JTF

    Shekau died of gunshot wounds – JTF

    The joint task force in Maiduguri, Borno State, on Monday claimed the leader of the Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, has died as result of gunshot wounds he sustained during clash with federal troops in June this year.

    A statement issued on Monday by the JTF spokesman in the state, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, said, “Abubakar Shekau, the most dreaded and wanted leader of the Boko Haram sect may have died of gunshots wound received in an encounter with JTF troops in one of their camps at Sambisa Game Reserve Forests on June 30, 2013.”

     

  • I am not under pressure to resign – Tukur

    I am not under pressure to resign – Tukur

    The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has stated that he’s not under any pressure to resign his position as chairman of the party.

    In a statement he personally signed on Monday, Tukur said his relationship with President Goodluck Jonathan and other key party stakeholders remained cordial.

    He attributed media reports indicating pressure on him to resign as the handiwork of those he described as “black legs” within and outside the ruling party.

    The chairman said: “I am aware of the antics of some black legs in and out of the PDP who have been funding negative media reports on activities of the party both at the state and national levels. Such antics will amount to naught because no sponsor of such reports would go far.”

    Alhaji Tukur expressed a firm belief that the Nigerian media have come of age in observing the tenets of the journalism profession anchored on fairness, thorough investigation and balancing of reports before publication.

    According to him, national interest and cohesion are better promoted when the media report the truth at all times.

    He expressed dismay that since he assumed office over a year ago, the media had made numerous failed predictions of his ouster, based on projections of those he referred to as enemies of the party.

     

     

  • Task force arrests 10 suspected pipeline vandals

    Task force arrests 10 suspected pipeline vandals

    The Special Taskforce on Pipeline Vandalism, Lagos Zone, on Sunday night arrested 10 suspected oil pipeline vandals and recovered 800 jerry cans at Elepete, Arepo in Ogun.

    An Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of the taskforce, Mr. Friday Ibadin, paraded the suspects and displayed the items before journalists, at Arepo on Monday.

    He said the suspects were arrested at about 9pm and the 50-litre jerry cans were empty.

    Ibadin said that policemen led by the Zonal Commander, DSP Osayande Onaghise, had been trailing the suspects.

    “We got reports that the gang had been operating on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation pipelines in the area.

    “The zonal commander laid ambush against them.

    “Items recovered from them include 800 (50-litre) empty jerry cans with which they attempted to siphon the product, three bags of detergent, three big boats and items used in breaking pipelines.

    “Some of the suspects claimed they were invited to carry the jerry cans with products to designated places, while some claimed that their duties were to load the products into the boats.

    “They claimed they were promised various amounts of money. They will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the task force chief as saying during the briefing.

     

     

  • Baby factory: Two suspects nabbed in Ebonyi

    Baby factory: Two suspects nabbed in Ebonyi

    Ebonyi State Police Command has arrested two suspects over their alleged involvement in the operation of a baby factory in Imo State.

    The state Police Spokesman, Sylvester Igbo, said one of the suspects, Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Agwu specializes in conveying pregnant young girls from Amasiri to Amaraku, Amaigbo in Nwangele local government area of Imo State where the baby factory is located.

    Agwu was said to have taken a pregnant teenager, Miss Uchechi Sunday from Amasiri in Afikpo North local government area of Ebonyi State to the baby factory, making her to believe that he was taking her to a provision store where she would be engaged as a sales girl.

    On reaching the factory, Uchechi was shocked to discover that only pregnant girls were confined to the building used for the factory but had no option but to remain in the building till June when she delivered her baby.

    After the delivery, Uchechi was stripped of her baby and transported to Okigwe where she was given ten thousand naira to transport herself to Amasiri and to purchase some new clothes.

    Angered by the development, her parents reported the incident to the police who commenced investigation into the matter.

    The police spokesman explained that investigation led to the arrest of the suspect and a nurse, Gloria Ezenwa in Feziechi Hospital at Orlu which served as a referral centre to the baby factory when complications arose.

    Igbo said police would intensify efforts to ensure the arrest of the proprietor of the factory identified as Madam Favour who is now at large.

     

  • Navy kills 12 pirates in gun battle

    Navy kills 12 pirates in gun battle

    Nemesis has caught up with a gang of sea pirates who specialised in hijacking oil vessels off the coast of Nigerian waters.

    At least 12 of them were on Saturday night killed in a gun battle with the operatives of the Nigerian Navy along the waterways of the region, close to the Excravos waters in Warri, Delta State.

    The bandits numbering 16 were said to have hijacked an oil vessel, MT NORTE, loaded with 17,000 metric tonnes of Petrol Motor Spirit (PMS), off Nigerian waters in the Gulf of Guinea.

    Four of them were, however, captured alive in a coordinated operation that involved the three naval commands and the air force.

    The leader of the gang identified as Ben were said to have been killed in the gun duel that lasted for over 30 minutes.

    Operatives of the navy were said to have been on the trail of the pirates and the hijacked ship for about four days before carrying out the operation.

    Immediately the ship was stolen, it was learnt that signals were sent to the Presidency which alerted the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Dele Ezeoba.

    Ezeoba was said to have swiftly informed all the commands and ordered them to rescue the vessel and arrest the suspects.

    The ship which was carrying imported fuel was said to be on a voyage to the Lagos harbour when the bandits took control of her.

    The Flag Officer Commanding Western Naval Command, Rear Admiral I.E Ibas, was said to have first dispatched two vessels, NNS ANDONI and NNS IKOT ABAS to pursue the pirates.

    To ensure a more coordinated response, the Flag Officer Commanding, Central Naval Command, Rear Admiral Sidi-Ali Usman, was said to have ordered NNS Delta in Warri, Delta State, and the Forward Operation Base FORMOSO at Egweama Brass, to dispatch more vessels.

    Usman confirmed the incident and said one of the gunboats involved in the rescue was riddled with bullets.

    He said FOB FORMOSO dispatched two of its three recently acquired OCEA boats, NNS BADAGRY and NNS BOMADI to the scene while NNS Delta ordered NNS OBULA to relocate to the area to join the rescue.

    He said eight naval vessels encircled the hijacked ship and the pirates.

     

     

  • Malawi must play in Calabar – FIFA

    Malawi must play in Calabar – FIFA

    World soccer governing body, FIFA, has dismissed the petition by the Football Association of Malawi (FAM) to move the September 7 World Cup qualifier with Nigeria from Calabar to somewhere “safer.”

    A muted FAM chief executive officer, Suzgo Nyirenda, has confirmed that The Flames had no other option but to travel to Calabar for the much anticipated World Cup qualifying cracker.

    “It is not like we said we do not want to travel to Nigeria. We are just waiting for the Nigeria Football Federation to provide us the guarantee. Once they do that, we will travel to Nigeria” he was quoted as saying by the Nation in Malawi.

    Despite the back tracking such a guarantee is bound not to come as the NFF has said it deems it superfluous since nobody can tell Nigeria where to play in Nigeria but Nigeria.

    Coach Tom Saintfiet, who personally called Calabar unsafe and questioned the fairness of the NFF, must now look elsewhere to see if he can create any other type of advantage for his team before game time rolls around, supersport.com reports.

     

     

  • Egyptian crisis: 24 policemen killed in ambush

    At least 24 Egyptian policemen have been killed in an ambush attack in the Sinai Peninsula.

    Medical sources and officials said the policemen were in two buses which came under attack from armed men close to the town of Rafah on the Gaza border.

    Three policemen were also reported to have been injured in the blast.

    The military recently intensified a crackdown against militants in Sinai, where attacks have surged since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011, BBC reports.

    Egyptian deployments in the peninsula are subject to the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt.

    There were conflicting reports about how Monday’s attack unfolded.

    Security sources quoted by the Associated Press news agency say four armed men stopped the buses and forced the police to get out before shooting them.

    But other reports spoke of rocket-propelled grenades being fired at the buses.

    Egypt’s interim leaders have declared a state of emergency amid the nationwide unrest which has followed the ousting of Islamist Mohammed Morsi as president on July 3.

    A night-time curfew is in place in the capital, Cairo, and several provinces.

     

  • COEASU issues 14-day strike ultimatum

    The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, (COEASU) which had earlier issued a 21-day notice  last Friday, has served a fresh strike notice on the Federal Government.
    In an August 15 letter to the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufai, the union issued a 14 day ultimatum to meet its demands.
    In the letter signed by its president, Asagha Nkoro, and the General Secretary, Nuhu Ogirima, COEASU expressed worry about the attitude of the government to the crisis which has bedeviled the education sector over poor working conditions.
    It reads In part: “Given the apparent unwillingness of the Federal Government to meaningfully address the issues of grave concern to the survival of the College of education system within 21 days, as enunciated in the letter, the union hereby states that should the Federal Government maintain its lackadaisical posture by the next two weeks, it would be compelled to embark on a nationwide strike action in the colleges of education.
    “In other words, the entire academic staff of the nation’s colleges of education would, indeed, cease all responsibilities and functions dischargeable under the law and statute if by 29thAugust, 2013, the Federal Government refuses to take practically meaningful steps towards addressing the union’s demands.”
    The union is protesting  against infrastructural decay, poor funding, non-implementation of the 2010 FG-COEASU Agreement, poor conditions of service, brain drain and illegal imposition of the IPPIS.

  • Rivers crisis: Amaechi hits back at Okupe

    Governor Rotimi Amaechi has  hit back at the Presidential Assistant on Public Affairs Dr. Doyin Okupe over his comments against him that he is a tyrant.

    He said Okupe’s comments were infantile vituperation  that will not help President Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid in 2015.

    He said the  earlier the President purged the Presidency of characters like Okupe, the better for us all.

    Amaechi, who fired back at Okupe in a statement through his Chief Press Secretary, David Iyofor, said it was regretful that “small minds like
    Okupe in a democracy, still see holding a different opinion from the Presidency on any issue as anti-Jonathan and fighting Mr. President.”
    The statement said: “Again, on Saturday August, 18, 2013, Presidential Assistant on Public Affairs Dr. Doyin Okupe on a radio programme, continued his grossly irresponsible, repugnant and contemptuous, albeit, feckless mission of denigrating and disparaging the person and office of the Governor of Rivers State and the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum(NGF), the Rt. Hon. Chibuike RotimiAmaechi.

    “In the past few weeks, we elected to ignore scurrilous statements from Okupe, as we do not wish to, wittingly or unwittingly, avail him with a sparring partner as he strives, though fecklessly yet again, to elevate his act from an attack puppy to an attack dog.

    “Moreover, like most Nigerians, we believe that Okupe is an irrelevant in the political equation that no serious-minded person should take seriously. Over time, his comments and statements are akin to some sort of notice-me monkey dance in front of his boss and his band of cheerleaders.

    “However, it has become pertinent to alert/notify the populace and Mr. President that the likes of Okupe represent the very worst of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.

    “With an aide and adviser like Okupe, President Jonathan certainly does not need any enemy. Indeed, Okupe is more than a handful. Pray, what kind of advice will an aide/adviser like Okupe give to Mr President? The earlier Mr President purged the Presidency of characters like Okupe, the better for us all.

    “Okupe sank to a new low when he falsely and indecorously claimed that Governor Amaechi used the police to harass, intimidate and punish people unjustly and could not provide one instance or any evidence to back up his claims.

    ” He bragged about some phantom text messages from “ordinary people” whose families have suffered grave injustice in the hands of Amaechi and, yet again, did not tell us the content and senders of the text messages. What does Okupe take Nigerians for? The phantom text messages exist only in the devious mind of Doyin Okupe.

    “The Presidential spokesman then sank even deeper as he condescendingly descended to become the Chief Advocate and Defender-in-Chief of the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Mbu Joseph Mbu, who the National Assembly has resolved categorically should be removed from Rivers State.

    “Okupe’s warped argument is that the call for the redeployment of Mbu from Rivers State by the State government is because Mbu has refused to be a ‘tool in the hands of Amaechi’.
    ” Pray Okupe, if that is the case and Mbu is such ‘a professional with dignity’, why then did the House of Representatives and the Senate(who sent a committee to Rivers State to investigate the issues) passed two separate resolutions calling for the immediate removal of Mbu from Rivers State?
    “If Okupe’s trend of agbero logic is anything to go by, his likely response would be that it’s because Mbu refused to be a tool in the hands of the National Assembly!”