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Tag: attack

  • ‘Attack on EFCC’s office is audacity of corruption’

    ‘Attack on EFCC’s office is audacity of corruption’

    The Nigeria Labour Congres (NLC) has described the recent attack by gun men on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commision (EFCC) Abuja office as an “audacity of corruption. The NLC, threfore, urged the commission and other related agencies to beef up security on their premises and personnel.

    It also charged the commission not ot succumb to intimidation, rather to do all necessary to secure the organisation.

    In a statement  signed by the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, he noted that the organisation needed technical support to build its forensic capacity without which cases would be lost or drag on indefinitely in court, thus, exposing the personnel to danger.

    “We also find it necessary to call on the government to give the commission the requisite support, including the setting up of dedicated courts for speedy disposal of corruption cases,” he said.              Wabba said the recent attack the battleground from the court room to the streets, and should be condemned by all those who love the country.

    According to him, the attack was intended to deter operatives of the EFCC from carrying on to a logical conclusion their ongoing investigations/prosecutions.

    He said: “In light of an earlier attack during which an operative sustained injuries, this cannot be a lone incident. Indeed, we see it as the new phase of corruption fighting back.

    “While we are not insensitive to the manifest danger in this new phase of corruption fighting back, we urge the commission and its operatives not to succumb to these desperate tactics or intimidation.”

    Wabba stated that Labour had no doubt that the resort to violence showed that those behind the attack have come to their wits’ end.

    In a related development, the NLC has taken a swipe at the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), Prof Itse Sagay, over his call to move workers minimum wage law from the exclusive to the concurrent legislative list.

    Wabba stated this in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, after the launch of the congress’ annual Rain School Programme.

    Wabba said the PACAC chairman has neglected the work of the committee he has been saddled with but ventured  into an area that he has scanty knowledge about.

    The NLC boss accused Sagay of not delivering on the Committee’s Mandate of taming corruption in the country, urging him to focus on that assignment rather than making suggestions outside the purview of the committee.

    Wabba said that a country that pays its workers poorly can never reduce corruption to the barest minimum, stressing that even a layman knows that poorly paid workers would not be in a position to resist corrupt tendencies.

    He said that Nigerian workers would resist any attempt to move the Minimum Wage Law to the concurrent list because other nations’ minimum wage is a national issue in their constitutions.

  • Attack: EFCC to relocate office, overhauls security nationwide

    Attack: EFCC to relocate office, overhauls security nationwide

    Following a dawn attack, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission( EFCC) has decided to relocate its annex office handling sensitive cases.

    Also, while the Nigeria Police Force intensified its investigation of the attack, the anti-graft agency was fingering high-profile suspects.

    But the EFCC has started overhauling security in all its offices nationwide including the headquarters in Abuja

    According to findings by our correspondent, the EFCC opted to relocate its office from 30, Harper Crescent in Abuja after a review meeting on the recent attacks on its operatives and office.

    A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “As part of the implications of the attack on our annex office and constant death threats to our operatives, we have reviewed our security apparatchik.

    “We have decided to relocate the office which was attacked to a safer place in Abuja. This relocation is with immediate effect.

    “The Acting Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Magu, has also directed all Zonal directors of the commission to beef up security in all offices and facilities.

    “The commission had taken the steps in anticipation of the early completion of its headquarters.”

    As at press time, no suspect had been arrested in connection with the Wednesday attack on EFCC annex office.

    The top source added: “The police force is handling the probe, we have left everything to their detectives to handle. We cannot be a judge in our own case.”

    But the source said the EFCC was suspecting some high-profile suspects under investigation and  some Politically Exposed Persons.

    The source said: “We are working on clues implicating some some high-profile suspects and  some Politically Exposed Persons.

    “Some of these high-profile suspects had tried to influence EFCC leadership and operatives without any success.

    “We cannot be intimidated under any guise at all. We will pursue all cases to logical conclusion.”

    Some unknown gunmen, who  invaded the annex office of the EFCC, also dropped a death threat note for a senior investigator, Ishaku Sharu, who heads the Foreign Exchange Malpractices Fraud.

    In spite of its sensitive investigation and huge recovery, the EFCC has been operating from make-shift offices and safe houses in Abuja.

    Although the Federal Government on November 27, 2010 awarded the contract for the EFCC permanent headquarters to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc for N18.86 billion, the project could not be completed within the three-year timeline.

    Alleged paucity of funds delayed the completion of the project.

    But the Federal Executive Council on April 26, 2017 approved additional N5 billion for the construction of the headquarters.

    During a visit to the site, the Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, assured that the EFCC will move to its permanent headquarters this year.

    He said:  “Our conviction is that where the EFCC currently operates does not give the good impression to first time visitors in Nigeria or people who come to Nigeria to interface with the agency as it is said that first impression counts a lot. I will be the happiest person to see that the EFCC resumes operation in the new building by December.”

  • Jonathan under attack for ‘we did well’ claim

    Jonathan under attack for ‘we did well’ claim

    Ex-President should apologise, says Oni 

    Sagay: claim irresponsible

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has received knocks for praising his administration after  admitting that he “failed to completely plug the loopholes in the fight against corruption”.

    Jonathan, who spoke in Abuja at the convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said his administration “did well”. He explained that he “learnt that some people said that if the PDP had remained in power beyond 2015, the economy would have been worse”. “This couldn’t have been the case, because we had a sound economic team in place,” the former president said.

    Jonathan said his administration provided focused leadership through institutional and sectoral reforms which impacted positively on the fundamentals for growth to the extent that inflation was at single digit and the economy was rebased to become the largest in Africa.

    The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Prosecutions, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla, disagreed with former President Jonathan’s claim that his administration performed creditably.

    Obono-Obla said the past administration was “scandalously corrupt” and that Jonathan had a false impression of his administration’s performance

    Obono-Obla, who is also the chairman of the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property, said the former president was speaking with both sides of the mouth.

    He said: “Only a very honest man will say his mother’s soup pot is not good and Jonathan is not a very honest man, with due respect to him. If he were honest, how can he say that food prices stayed low? It is not true. It is not true that the Nigerian economy was very sound.

    “He ran a voodoo economy, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. There was massive unemployment, massive inflation; there was shortage of petroleum products, there was oil subsidy which led to trillions of naira subsidy fraud.

    “So, how can he say that the economy was sound, that it was well managed? The bumbling incompetence of his government is what has manifested in what we saw when we went into a recession shortly after we took over when we met an empty treasury.

    “If he said his government didn’t block loopholes of corruption, that is an admission that his government was chronically scandalously corrupt and which is true, because we have not seen that kind of mindless looting of government resources and money which has manifested in his former minister looting what would amount to the budget of the entire northern states for about four years.

    “He said the economy was sound when there were a lot of leakages through which billions of dollars were siphoned from the economy.”

    Deputy National Chairman (South) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Segun Oni, cautioned the former president against “talking about what he did or failed to do as far as corruption is concerned”.

    He urged him to apologise to Nigerians having failed to fight corruption as there were no results to show for his efforts.

    “It is very unfortunate that a former President will say that. There is the saying that there is no mark for effort. The only mark you get is for results.

    “It does’t matter how much a man tried; if he does not have a result to show, what he should just do is to keep quiet and that is what I will advise him to do as far as corruption is concerned.

    “The results are very shameful. I think he should just be asking for forgiveness.”

    Voice of Nigeria Director-General Osita Okechukwu also said the ex-president should apologise to Nigerians for betraying their trust and expanding the loopholes of corruption which plunged the nation into its current state.

    Okechukwu said: “My own sincere assessment is that our dear ex-president, rather than plug loopholes of corruption; opened it wide. He should apologise to Nigerians who he betrayed for being less than transparent. I was outraged when I heard him proclaim that PDP will return to power in 2019 because of the hunger and poverty ravaging the country”.

    “The Nigerian economy could have collapsed if President Buhari didn’t come to the rescue. Jonathan relied on voodoo economic records which rated the Nigerian economy higher than that of industrialised South Africa. An economy with 40,000 MW to Nigeria’s less than 4,000MW. ”

    He added: “Jonathan and his cohorts assume that many of us will easily forget how on 13 May, 2010, his regime announced publicly with joy the award of $23 billion contract for the erection of three Greenfield refineries; one to be erected in Bayelsa, one in Kogi and one in Lagos.

    “Today, we see neither the refineries nor the billions of dollars at a time Nigeria’s Excess Account hovered around $17 billion. The refineries could have saved Nigeria over $200 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products till date.

    “Jonathan should just keep quiet, especially now that the hunger and poverty he imposed on us are getting too harsh.

    .”He propelled his preferred Minister Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke and other cronies to loot dry our dear countrymen. Example, latter day revelations are showing how $80 million was used by Mrs Madueke’s ally to purchase a luxury yacht, money which could have been utilised to build the best hospital in Yenogoa. Or is he not reminding us of the humongous foreign exchange used in buying choice estates locally and abroad?

    “In sum, the biggest headache of Buhari administration is the huge local and foreign debt amassed by the PDP’s 16 years misrule.

    “On bailout fund and Paris Club refund, Buhari has spent over N1 trillion on salary and pension arrears. He has also paid over $7 billion on obligations to International Oil Companies (IOC) with the little he got.”

    Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) Prof Itse Sagay said Jonathan never fought corruption but deepened it.

    “We are investigating nearly $470 billion stolen and all the villas around the world his cronies bought. We are looking at over $2 billion and endless amount that disappeared under the former National Security Adviser (NSA). We are investigating former Chief of Army Staff he appointed, who diverted whopping amount of public funds. His shameless statement just shows the level of self-deceit by the former president. It is unbelievable.

    “This country is very lucky that the current administration took over the government from the hands of the party of plunderers, which could have ruined us all.

    “If Jonathan had remained in office, we would all, by now, be carrying Ghana-must-go bags to go look for employment in other countries.”

    Sagay added: “Of course, the inflation might have been reduced when he was in the saddle when his cronies emptied the treasury and blowing money all over the place, spending public funds on luxurious and irresponsible things. There was a lot of money they were throwing about, which did not belong to them. If they didn’t empty the treasury, maybe the inflation rate would have been better now. But, they finished the whole money in the nation’s coffers. What the Buhari administration is doing is digging us out of the big hole the PDP put us to.

    “That is why there is inflation. Jonathan and his political party are the cause of the economic problem we found ourselves today. All this joblessness, misery, kidnapping and the despicable crimes being committed are as a result of lack of funds for ordinary human activities.

    “In fact, the PDP and its members are a curse to this country. For them to ever dream that they would come back to power, that is the wildest and irresponsible dream anyone can contemplate.”

    National Chairman of United Progressives Party (UPP) Chief Chekwas Okorie said: “I want to be charitable to Jonathan for admitting that he scored himself a failure in the area of the fight against corruption and above average in area of economic development.

    “I must say that Jonathan failed on both sides. A government that lasted that long was supposed to provide development for the country. The economy did not improve under his government; rather than improving, his administration laid the foundation for our going into recession. Corruption thrived under Jonathan to an unimaginable level.

    “He gave tacit support to corruption and when he began to say stealing was not corruption, one could see that he was not against corruption.”

    Afenifere Publicity Secretary Yinka Odumakin said: “It is true that Jonathan did not fight corruption headlong just like other administrations had not fought corruption sincerely in the country. There is no administration that has met the yearning of the people, when it comes to the fight against corruption.

    “This is because the foundation of the fight against corruption has not been properly laid. The foundation was laid with corruption, so it is not possible to fight corruption in a badly laid foundation that is supposed to fight corruption.”

    The National Chairman of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Prof. Bankole Okuwa, described the ex-president “as a non-starter”, adding that it was most unfortunate that he became the president. “We don’t need someone like him and honestly his wife made him to fritter away over N2 billion; what an embarrassment. Jonathan and his wife should be in jail by now. If Buhari was  not lenient with him, he should be in jail.

    Former Deputy Senate Minority Leader, Senator Olrunnimbe Mamora said Jonathan’s statement was an admission of failure to act appropriately to curb corruption during his tenure.

    Mamora said: “It is an admission of some measures of guilt in terms of approach in curbing corruption under his watch. He has admitted he didn’t do much as expected by the people. It is an admission of not doing much in line of expectation of the people.

    “His admission that he failed to curb corruption under his watch is an indictment on his administration; and a stain that cannot be removed.”

    Mamora noted corruption was one of the low points of Jonathan government; it is in the book of  history that his administration was the most corrupt; he has only confirmed that a lot of untoward happened under him.

    Lawyer and public affairs analyst Monday Ubani was surprised that Jonathan had at last admitted that there was corruption during his tenure.

    He said Jonathan knew all along when he was in power that there was high level corruption in the country but he refused to admit. The magnitude of corruption under him has cost us development in this country in terms of infrastructural development. “His intransigence has retarded our progress”, he stated.

    The second National Vice President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) said Jonathan should seek forgiveness from Nigerians.

    “Even if he was forgiven, I doubt if Nigerians would allow his party  (PDP) to return to power after looting the treasury,” he added.

    Constitutional lawyer Wahab Shittu advised former President Jonathan to maintain a dignified silence.

    He said: “The reality is that  corruption thrived to unprecedented height during his tenure.Corruption not only became the  elephant in the room, it was  elevated to  a fundamental Article of Faith with frightening consequences on the economy with  the people  worse hit in terms of living standards and negative image to our country.

    “These days we are daily assaulted with unimaginable disclosures of  massive looting of our commonwealth with accusing fingers being pointed at senior officials of his administration many of who said they acted on the basis of authorisation of the former president.

    “Until the former president clears himself of these allegations he has no moral right to raise his voice in public commentary on the affairs of our country.

    “The former president handed over a postrate economy with the country plunged into economic recession for which it is yet to recover. From mind boggling allegations of massive looting of our commonwealth to alleged divesion of resources meant for arms procurement to private pockets including massive corruption in the electricity sector and other sectors of  the economy,  the country took a turn for the worse,  it was an era when the former president publicly pronounced that stealing did not amount to corruption.”

  • Day after attack: Anambra community gloomy

    Day after attack: Anambra community gloomy

    Perpetrators of Sunday’s Church massacre must be brought to justice, many said yesterday. Those who reacted to the attack on worshippers are asking law enforcement agencies to swing into action, report TONY AKOWE, OGOCHUKWU ANIOKE, VICTOR OLUWASEGUN, OSHEYE OKWUOFU AND FRANK IKPEFAN.  

    IT was still gloomy yesterday in Amakwa-Ozubulu, an Anambra community in Ekwusigo Local Government Area. Residents were recounting the shooting of parishioners at St. Philip’s Catholic Church during Sunday’s early morning Mass by a lone gunman.

    The yet-to-be-identified gunman, who emptied his cartridge and reloaded it, escaped in a waiting car as he continued shooting.

    The Anambra State Police Commissioner, Garba Baba Urmar confirmed the death of 11 members of the congregation. He said 18 others were injured.

     

    Survivors recount ordeal

     

    Some of the survivors yesterday recounted the Anambra church shooting. They said the victims were mostly children and the elderly.

    Charles Justice, who brought his wounded friends to the Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital in Nnewi, said the incident happened after the homily at 6am Mass, the Premium Times reported yesterday.

    “Those who died are mostly children and the elderly, I know about three children who were below five years that died in the shooting.” said Mr. Justice was quoted as saying.

    According to him, three of the victims had died at the hospital, a claim corroborated by a medical doctor who pleaded for anonymity.

    Sixteen parishioners among those injured, were reported to be in stable conditions yesterday. Six had successfully undergone surgeries, it was learnt.

    The police preliminary investigation confirmed the theory that the gun spray was triggered by a feud between two individuals of the same community who reside overseas.

    “One of the individuals built the church where the shooting occurred; it is definitely not a terrorist attack in the mould of Boko Haram of Fulani herdsmen attack,” said Garba Umar, the state’s police commissioner.

    On Sunday, the church cordoned off by security operatives, as blood stains and expended bullets littered the premises. Many of the villagers and sympathisers were seen yesterday standing in groups and discussing the incident in hushed tones.

    At the Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital in Nnewi, where most of the victims were admitted, people struggled to gain entrance through the heavily guarded gate.

    Azuka Ejidike said he lost his father-in-law to the shooting. But Nonso Nwakibe gave thanks to God as his mother, Antonia, lay groaning from the pains of the bullet wounds on her arm.

    Ogochukwu Maduka, a Lay Reader at the church, said she had arrived for the Mass and found the church in darkness.

    She said: “After much effort to get the generator to work failed, they had resort to using candles and rechargeable lamps”

    Ms. Maduka, who said she sat on the front roll during the Mass, said: “The holy Mass had proceeded as usual, after the first, second and gospel reading, and then the priest’s homily, as we stood up for the proclamation of faith, there was a sound of gun like thunder from behind.

    “There was chaos and panic and confusion. The priest ran away as the gunshots continued and I took cover under the seat.

    “When people started running around, the man began shooting upwards. Those mostly affected were those at the back of the church.”

    Ms. Maduka claimed she counted about 15 corpses afterwards but the police confirmed 11.

    Nnagolum Oramidike, a primary three pupil, who was shot in the leg, said: “I bent down” while the shooting was going on.”

    His mother, Chioma, who also sustained bullet wounds, said she was worried the news would devastate her husband, who had just travelled abroad to seek greener pastures, but hoped he would find out they were alive.

    “The shooting started around 7am and my father in law was not so lucky,” said Mrs. Oramidike, 32, whose daughter was hit by a motorcycle amidst the chaos.

    “I don’t know how to take care of my children now I’m incapacitated”, she added.

    Ifeoma Onyeka sat beside her 14-year-old daughter who had just been operated upon. Her older, foster daughter, Anwurika Mboje, did not survive the incident – she had died right inside the church.

    “I survived by taking shelter under the seat while the children must have started running because of lack of knowledge of what to do in such a circumstance”, she said.

     

    Fed Govt sends more doctors

     

    The Federal Ministry of Health has placed medical experts on standby to beef up services at the Nnamdi Azikwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, for worshippers injured in the Ozubulu church attack, should the need arise.

    Media and Public Relations Director in the ministry Mrs. Boade Akinola confirmed yesterday that the Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has approved the arrangement.

    The minister, who described the incident as shocking, assured the referral hospital’s Chief Medical Director (CMD) of immediate federal support upon request.

    He commended the doctors at the hospital for being proactive in their response to the emergency.

    Prof Adewole commiserated with the government and people of Anambra on the unfortunate incident.

    Governor Willie Obiano has promised to unmask the masterminds and bring them to justice.

     

    NHRC, ANN condemn killing

     

    The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC Acting Executive Secretary, Mrs Oti Ovrawah, condemned the killing of worshippers by the gunman.

    In a statement signed in Abuja yesterday by the NHRC’s Media Relations’ Head, Fatimah Mohammad, Mrs. Ovrawah described the killing as unacceptable, adding that there was no justification for it.

    She noted that the sanctity of life of every one living in Nigeria was important, and called on security agencies to step up their intelligence gathering techniques.

    Mrs. Ovrawah further urged security agencies to urgently fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

    According to her, everyone living in Nigeria has a right to life and should enjoy this right without fear and intimidation.

    She commended state government for its prompt decision to foot the medical expenses of the injured victims, and condoled with the families of the victims.

    The Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), a new political group, also condemned in strong terms the killings at the worship place.

    It described it as an unimaginable desecration of the house of God and unparalleled disregard for the sanctity of the human life.

    The group’s spokesman Leonard Ebute said the group received with shock news of the dawn raid on the church which left many people dead and scores injured.

    Saying the attack was unacceptable, ANN’s spokesman said: “We are not interested in the motivation of the killers or the reason behind such heinous crime. We are not unmindful of different stories making the rounds purportedly explaining the reason behind the killings.

    “The ANN is not interested in these stories while trusting security agencies to do a thorough job in fishing out the killers and make them tell the whole world the reason behind such dastardly act.

    “While we await that, we make haste to tell fellow Nigerians that acts like this do not have a space in the Nigeria the group is envisioning for her weary compatriots.”

    The ANN said the trauma caused families of victims and people of Ozoubulu could better be imagined and expressed its heartfelt condolences to the families of those who lost their lives during the raid and prayed for a peaceful repose of the souls of the victims.

    The statement reads: “ANN feels your pain. We also sympathise with the people of Anambra State over this ugly development and all members of the Catholic community in the town and the state in general. We pray God to console you Himself and help in bringing to justice those behind this crime against humanity.”

     

    Southeast lawmakers’ caucus wants killers arrested

     

    The Southeast Caucus in the House of Representatives described the killing of parishioners as highly unacceptable.

    In a signed statement issued in Abuja by Chukwuka Onyema, the Caucus called on security agencies to ensure the immediate arrest and prosecution of all those connected to the heinous crime.

    Onyema, who is the House’ Deputy Minority Leader, said: “The devilish and unwholesome murder of innocent worshippers in a church, where they went to seek the face of God is highly reprehensible and is a case that must be properly investigated to speedily restore the people’s confidence of their safety.”

    He also commiserated with the families of the deceased on behalf of the Caucus, and prayed for quick recovery of the victims.

    Onyema said in honour of the dead and to keep their community safe, those who can assist the security agencies with information to solve the crime, should do so.

    The Caucus leader extended his heartfelt condolences to the Catholic Church, Anambra government and Nigeria over the sad and unfortunate incident.

     

    ‘It’s an attack on God’

     

    The pro-East Socio-Cultural group, Ohaneze Ndigbo, yesterday condemned the attack by unknown gunmen, describing it as an attack on God.

    “Such a dastardly and cantankerous act smells to high heaven. People have lost reason, civility and good conscience. This is a direct attack on God with daft and brazen impunity.”, the organisation noted.

    In statement by group’s National Publucity Secretary, Prince Uche Achi-Okpaga, Ohaneze described the attack as unforgivable.

    It said: “The devil sold a dummy to them and they bought it hook, line and sinker. This is condemned in all ramifications. If you attack a man you appeal to God for recompense, when you attack God in His sanctuary who will appeal to?” he queried.

    Commiserating with the government and people of the state, the group urged the Police not to speculate but to carry out detailed investigation to unmask the real perpetrators.

    The statement reads: “Ohaneze joins the league of well-meaning Nigerians to commiserate with the good people of Anambra state and, in particular, the entire bereaved families and pray the Almighty God to give them enough spiritual shock absorbers to bear the irreparable and irreplaceable loss.

    “The operatives should not speculate. They should swing into action to unmask the devil incarnates.”

    Achi-Okpaga further charged security agencies to redouble their efforts to make the south east zone safer for the people.

    “The whole of Southeast is under siege with Police and military blockades here and there. Yet, herdsmen killings and kidnapping and all sorts of vices have become the order of the day. It is unfortunate.”

     

    Ekiti governor

    calls for probe

     

    Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose commiserated with the Catholic Church of Nigeria, the government and people of Anambra State as well as families of the victims.

    He described the killers as wicked and devilish.

    In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Idowu Adelusi, the governor called on the police and other security agencies to carry out a thorough investigation on the killings with a view to bringing the perpetrators to book.

    He was quoted as saying: “Killing fellow human beings is devilish, not to talk of killings in the House of God. I condemn the Ozubulu murder in its entirety.”

    Calling for value reorientation in the country, Fayose said: “It is time for us as a nation to have another look at our moral values. Where did we get it so wrong that we now kill one another at will?

    “Boko Haram killings in the Northeast, Badoo killings in Lagos, Fulani herdsmen killings across the country, ritual killings everywhere, and now, drug war, what’s wrong with us as a people? Why is it that we no longer value human lives?

    “Methinks there is urgent need for leaders of this country to take the issue of moral value reorientation of the citizens seriously.”

     

    Fish out perpetrators, NLC, UPP urges government

     

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the United Progressive Party (UPP) yesterday urged the government to bring to book those behind Sunday’s killing of innocent worshipers.

    In a statement in Abuja, NLC President Ayuba Wabba said the assailants must be identified and apprehended He described the incident as shocking, bizarre and reprehensible.

    Wabba said: “Places of worship quite often in decent conflicts are sanctuaries. What makes this attack more confounding is the fact that Ozubulu is far removed from any known theatre of conflict at the moment and has had little or no history of violent conflict.

    “Whatever may have been the situation,  this attack represents a descent into the pit of hell. It is animalistic, cowardly and shameful and all necessary steps should immediately be taken by security forces to bring the perpetrators to book.

    “Our heartfelt condolences go to the families of the victims, the Catholic Church, Governor Willie Obiano and the people of Anambra State. We urge our security agencies to step up security in and around places of worship. We similarly urge worshippers to take the initiative of securing their premises.”

    The National Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP), Chekwas Okorie, said the party received with shock the news of the killing, describing it as cowardly, detestable and abominable.

    He added that the  murder of the Catholic faithful inside the Church while worshipping the Almighty God was outrageous, a sacrilege and sadism of the worst order.

    “We also commiserate with the leadership of Saint Philip’s Catholic Church, the Government and people of Anambra State and pray that God Almighty will give them the fortitude to bear the loss of these loved ones. We equally pray for the speedy recovery of those wounded in this senseless attack.

    “We urge security agents to fish out the assailants and their sponsors and bring them to book to serve as a deterrent to those who would contemplate this heinous crime against fellow compatriots. This madness must stop.”

     

    Youths condemn killing

     

    Some youths took to the streets in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital to protest the gruesome killing in the Anambra Church

    The, youths, who bemoaned the failures of the leaders to provide enabling environment suitable for them to grow and develop their potentials, urged the security forces to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to book.

    They described the Anambra killing as a crime against humanity.

     

     

  • Catholic Church: attack regrettable

    The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, Anambra, has described Sunday’s attack on worshippers at St. Philip’s Catholic Church, Ozubulu by a gunman as regrettable.

    A statement by Rev. Hygi Aghaulor, Director of Communications of the Diocese, said Parish Priest Rev Fr. Jude Onwuaso escaped unhurt.

    He described the act as a sign of loss of what is sacred and condoled with the families of victims of the attack.

    “It is regrettable that our people are more and more losing a sense of what is sacred.

    “What on earth would make people open fire on innocent unarmed worshippers including children and women on a Sunday morning?

    “We condemn this ungodly act in its totality; we pray Almighty God to console the families affected and assure them that our hearts are with them as we pray for the quick recovery of the wounded.

    “For the entire parishioners, we call on them not to be discouraged in their usual practice of faith.

    “It is when the forces of darkness attempt to overshadow goodness that the light of God shines even brighter than ever just as it happened on Easter Sunday.

    “Evil may make attempts but God and goodness will always triumph; we call on the good people to continue to pray for the deceased worshippers and their families,” Aghaulor stated.

  • Buhari condemns Ozubulu attack

    Buhari condemns Ozubulu attack

    President Muhammadu Buhari last night condemned the Ozubulu Church attack.

    The President expressed his grief in a statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu.

    President Buhari said “there was no justification whatsoever to target Church worshippers and kill them in cold blood.’’

    He said this kind of atrocity “plumbs the depth of depravity and extreme cruelty of the kind that words cannot adequately express.’’

    According to the President, there is no religion that does not lay constant emphasis on the sanctity of life, and that “all Nigerians must rise up and speak with one voice against these remorseless evil men.’’

    The President expressed his deepest sympathy with the families of the victims, the Church leadership and the government of Anambra state.

    He reassured all Nigerians of his administration’s firm and uncompromising commitment to protect their lives and properties at all times.

  • Why Osinbajo is under attack, by Senator Sani

    Why Osinbajo is under attack, by Senator Sani

    Those attacking acting President Yemi Osinbajo might have been unwittingly creating room for a North-South crisis, Senator Shehu  Sani has said.

    Some politicians from the North at the weekend accused the acting president of nepotism in appointments, but the senator said the criticism was uncalled for.

    Sani (Kaduna Central) spoke in Kano yesterday after paying a condolence visit on Mallam Aminu Kano family over the death last month of Aishatu, the widow of the late Second Republic presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP). He accused the northern politicians “who have suddenly derived the pleasure in attacking the acting president as “hell bent on creating religious and ethnic disaffection among Nigerians”.

    He said: ‘’The actions and utterances of these northerners are designed to ignite disturbances and conflict between Osinbajo and President Muhammadu Buhari.

    ‘’The acting President has proved to be a consistent and absolute loyalist of President Muhammadu Buhari. It is unfair for anyone to accuse him of ethnic or religious bias or tribalism. Osinbajo has kept the flame of progress alight since the absence of the President. Those attacking Osinbajo are reactionary conservative elements.

    ‘’I believe that they have the fundamental right to express their opinion and make public their own perception but we must be very careful not to instigate crisis and conflict between the North and the Southern part of Nigeria.”

    He recalled that some progressives across the country came together to install the Buhari government, adding: ‘’I think we should appreciate the contributions of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Osinbajo and others, who worked tirelessly and invested so much to see that we have fundamental changes.”

    To Sani, ‘’Acting President Osinbajo has proven to be a capable, able and a determined leader, who has remained consistent on the side of his principal”. I think he should be appreciated rather than being condemned,” he said.

    Sani advised the Acting President to be very watchful and very careful not to make a mistake so as not to give room for ethnic and religious forces to capitalise and create crisis and conflict within the administration”.

    The senator extolled the virtues of Hajiya Aishatu, saying her death had created a gap between the past and the future.

    ’’She gave us hope and encouragement. She inspired us and served as the guardian of politics of principle and ideology.

    ‘’She lived long to see the good and the bad, as well as the worst of Nigeria and she lived long to see the dream of her late husband metamorphose to a political change in Nigeria,” he said.

    ‘’ We will forever remember her as the woman behind the stitch of revolutionary politics,” Sani said, adding that we will remember her as “an invisible, hard and a silent voice in the struggle for liberation, social justice and emancipation of the poor”.

  • 12 arrested after seven killed in London terror attack

    12 arrested after seven killed in London terror attack

    British Prime Minister Theresa May blamed “evil” Islamist ideology yesterday for an attack by knife-wielding men who mowed down and stabbed revellers in London.

    Seven people were killed, 48 injured and the police said they had arrested 12 suspects.

    Saturday night’s rampage at the popular nightlife hub around London Bridge, by three men arriving in a van and wearing fake suicide vests, was the third deadly terror attack in Britain in three months and came only days before Thursday’s general elections.

    Political parties promptly suspended campaigns  out of respect for the victims, who included 48 people treated in hospital, some of them in life-threatening conditions.

    No details have been released about the suspects, who were shot dead within minutes by police, and detectives are still investigating whether they acted alone.

    The 12 arrests were made in the ethnically diverse east London suburb of Barking, with Sky News reporting that a property raided by police belonged to one of the killers.

    May said the attack was driven by the same “evil ideology of Islamist extremism” behind last week’s Manchester suicide bombing that left 22 people dead, and the Westminster attack in March, which killed five.

    “The recent attacks are not connected but we believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face,” she said after chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee.

    She warned that perpetrators are inspired to attack “by copying one another”.

    The assailants wore fake suicide vests in a bid to increase the sense of panic as they lunged seemingly at random at the crowds gathered around London Bridge and Borough Market, which is full of restaurants and bars.

    Gerard Vowls, 47, said he saw a woman repeatedly stabbed, and threw chairs, glasses and bottles at the attackers in a bid to stop them.

    “They kept coming to try to stab me… they were stabbing everyone. Evil, evil people,” he told The Guardian newspaper.

    Holly Jones, a BBC reporter, saw a white van speeding into crowds of people walking along the pavement on London Bridge, saying it hit about five or six people.

    Another witness called Eric told the BBC he had seen three men get out and thought they were going to help.

    Instead they “started kicking them, punching them and took out knives. It was a rampage really,” he said, adding that he heard a shout of: “This is for Allah”.

    An Australian and four French nationals were among those hospitalised, their governments said, while a Spaniard was slightly wounded.

    Britain was already on high alert following the attack on a concert by US pop star Ariana Grande in Manchester, northwest England, in which seven children were among the dead.

    Grande, who headlined a benefit concert in Manchester last night alongside stars including Pharrell Williams and Justin Bieber, tweeted that she was “Praying for London.”

    The national threat level was raised to maximum after the Manchester attack and troops were deployed at key public sites, but reduced to its second highest level last weekend.

    May, who served as interior minister for six years before taking office after the Brexit vote last summer, said Britain’s response to the terror threat must change.

    “We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are,” she said.

    She repeated calls for international action to combat extremist content online, a message she took to the G7 leaders summit last week.

    May also warned there was “far too much tolerance of extremism in our country”, promising to review counter-terrorism efforts, including possibly increasing the jail terms handed out in terror cases.

    The ruling Conservatives and the main opposition Labour party suspended national campaign events for the day, although local campaigning will continue.

    “But violence can never be allowed to disrupt the democratic process, so those campaigns will resume in full tomorrow and the general election will go ahead as planned on Thursday,” the prime minister said.

    Saturday’s rampage is the latest in a string of attacks to hit Europe, including in Paris, Berlin and Saint Petersburg, and the French, German and Russian leaders sent messages of support.

    US President Donald Trump offered his help, tweeting “WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!” — and highlighting his thwarted ban on travellers from six mainly Muslim countries.

    The Federal Government condemned the deadly terrorist attacks and voiced its deep condolence to the relatives and victims of the attack.The Foreign Affairs Ministry in a statement by its Spokesperson, Dr Clement Aduku, said: “the government and people of Nigeria stand with the government and people of Great Britain in the face of continued terrorist attacks on innocent victims.

    “Our thoughts, sympathy and prayers are with those affected in these latest multiple terrorist attacks and their families,” the ministry stated

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that assailants drove a van into pedestrians at high speed on London Bridge on Saturday night before stabbing revellers on nearby streets.

    Police said armed officers shot dead all three attackers within minutes of receiving reports of the terrorist attack unfolding in central London.

    The three men were wearing suicide bomb vests that were later confirmed to be fakes.

    Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan police commissioner, said on Sunday morning the incident was under control. “We believe there were three attackers and we believe they are dead,” she said

    Police also confirmed the arrest of 12 people in the Barking district of east London in connection with the attack and raids were continuing there

    Several people said they were ordered by police to stay inside pubs and restaurants as the terror raged outside.

    Alex Shellum at the Mudlark pub said a woman had come into the bar “bleeding heavily from the neck”, telling the BBC: “It appeared that her throat had been cut.”

    Italian photographer Gabriele Sciotto, who was watching the football at the Wheatsheaf pub in Borough Market, said he saw three men shot just outside the pub.

    In a picture he took, a man wearing combat trousers, with a shaved head and what looked like a belt with canisters attached to it could be seen on the ground with two more bodies behind him.

    “In two or five seconds, they shot all the three men down,” Sciotto told the BBC.

    The attack had harrowing echoes of the attack on Westminster Bridge in March, when British Muslim convert Khalid Masood rammed his car into pedestrians before crashing into the barriers surrounding parliament.

    He stabbed a police officer to death before being shot dead by a ministerial bodyguard.

  • Nigeria’s economy resilient against cyber attack, says report

    Nigeria is third among  African economies resilient againts attack on ‘critical infrastructure.’ Similarly, six countries have been considered at a risk of their critical systems.

    Critical infrastructure comprises information that are often considered confidential and a potential risk to a country when accessed by outsiders.

    These cut across information in private and government’s settings. Though every country is vulnerable to this attack; yet for any country to be considered ‘resilient’, simply means such country has the ability to recover from such attack on its critical infrastructure, while it can also block further access to such information by hackers in future.

    This was contained in the Cyber Resilience Preparedness index, an objective assessment of where each country stands in cyber security across five critical priority areas accepted by cyber security models for measuring resilient cyber security. They include: articulation and publication of a national cyber security strategy/ legislations; technical measures and standards; partnerships/cooperation; information sharing mechanism; and capacity building.

    In the study published in the International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, a journal indexed on Elsevier with a 1.443 five-year impact factor, Dr Ada Peter, an associate professor of Media, Peace and National Security, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, demonstrated the cyber resilience preparedness of 12 African emerging economies against the compromise of their critical systems, industries, classified documents, as well as industrial espionage.

    In Peter’s research titled: ‘Cyber resilience preparedness of Africa’s top 12 emerging economies’, Egypt topped the chart of six countries followed by Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco and South Africa. The other six countries, Sudan, Ghana, Libya, Zimbabwe, Algeria and Angola, were considered at risk of compromise of their critical systems.

    Peter said the Cyber Resilience Preparedness index used in the study is viable for monitoring and comparing the cyber resilience of top economies in Africa

    “The goal of this study was to address the question: ‘Are top emerging economies in Africa cyber war prepared, preparing, or at risk of compromise of critical systems, industries, classified documents and industrial espionage’”? Peter said of the motive of the study.

    According to him, the research indicates that in the international media, Africa’s economic growth and commercial opportunities are reported as stirring and attractive.

    “This business attraction is usually attributed to the 300 million-strong growing middle class concentrated in urban areas, coupled with a youth bulge across the continent and these developments presumably bolster the case for Afro-optimism, since the numbers create an internal market of global scale.”

    However, in spite of the optimism generated by the continent’s growth and commercial opportunities, the research identified a reason for concern, which is the increasing reliance of Africa’s modern society on networked computer systems.

    “Precisely, most countries in the continent are embracing the economic and social potential of the Internet of Everything (IoE)- the intelligent connection of people, processes, data, and things.

    “Consequently, prioritising cyber resilience especially at public and regional/international policy levels must continue,” she further explained.

    She recommended that the economies at red alert risk can initiate further improvements on cyber security via commitments to capacity building, partnerships with entities such as the World Economic Forum’s Partnering for Cyber Resilience (PCR) initiative, which certifies that cybersecurity is carefully considered by militaries, policy makers, and intergovernmental bodies when crafting solutions to 20-century economic security challenges.

  • Prosecutors: Dortmund bus attack suspect acted out of greed

    A 28-year-old German-Russian citizen took out a five-figure loan to bet that Borussia Dortmund shares would drop, then bombed the soccer team’s bus in an attack he tried to disguise as Islamic terrorism in a scheme to net millions, German officials said yesterday.

    The suspect, identified only as Sergej W. in line with German privacy laws, was arrested by a police tactical team early yesterday near the southwestern city of Tuebingen, federal prosecutors said.

    “We are working on the assumption that the suspect is responsible for the attack against the team bus of Borussia Dortmund,” prosecutors’ spokeswoman Frauke Koehler told reporters.

    She said the man came to the attention of investigators because he had made “suspicious options purchases” for shares in Borussia Dortmund, the only top-league German club listed on the stock exchange, on the same day as the April 11 attack. We had taken out a loan of “several tens of thousands of euros” days before the attack and bought a large number of so-called put options, betting on a drop in Dortmund’s share price, she said.

    “A significant share price drop could have been expected, if a player had been seriously injured or even killed as a result of the attack,” according to prosecutors, though Koehler said the precise profit W. might have expected was still being calculated.

    Ralf Jaeger, the top security official in North Rhine-Westphalia state, said the suspect had hoped to earn millions.

    “The man appears to have wanted to commit murder out of greed,” Jaeger said.

    Investigators found notes at the scene claiming responsibility on behalf of Islamic extremists, which Germany’s top security official, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, said was a “particularly perfidious way to toy with people’s fears.”

    He said the suspect had been under close surveillance for about a week and that the evidence against him was significant.

    “The fact that someone wanted to enrich himself by killing people to influence the stock market is particularly reprehensible,” he said.

    The suspect faces charges of attempted murder, causing an explosion and serious bodily harm, and was due to appear before a judge yesterday  to determine if there was enough evidence against him to keep him in custody, Koehler said.