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Tag: shot

  • APC candidate Ekere: they shot into my bedroom

    A bullet was fired into the Uyo home of All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State Mr. Nsima Ekere yesterday, the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) said yesterday.

    Ekere said he “narrowly escaped an assassination attempt”.

    Narrating how it happened, Ekere said he was meeting party leaders in the nearby residence of the Managing Director of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, Mr Umana Umana, when the bullet was fired into his upstairs bedroom where his wife and sister were at the time.

    Following a distress call from his wife, Obong Ekere, accompanied by party leaders, rushed home to the scene of the incident.

    The scene was subsequently cordoned off and the expended bullet taken away by security agents following the visit of Commissioner of Police Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi and some personnel from the Police and the Department of State Security (DSS).

    The Police however declined to speak on the matter when contacted by our reporter.

    Ekere said that the incident was disturbing coming at the beginning of the electioneering season and shortly after an attack on the residence of Senator Godswill Akpabio.

    He appealed to Inspector-General of Police and the DSS Director-General to take a serious look at the security situation in the state and the attempt on his life coming shortly after Governor Udom Emmanuel recruited some notorious retired and serving security personnel who previously served in the state to form his security architecture.

    Obong Ekere also condemned the destruction of some of his campaign billboards in Uyo

    “We don’t understand this level of intolerance for the opposition. Democracy is about allowing people to choose who they want. I call on the federal government to cause the state government to allow democracy to thrive in Akwa Ibom State without let or hindrance,” he said.

    The APC State Caucus Chairman Chief Don Etiebet described the assassination attempt on Ekere as callous, sad and untoward and called on security agencies to thoroughly investigate it.

    APC Chairman Ini Okopido, said the party was shocked that “we just nominated a candidate two days ago and they came here to kill him today.”

    He criticized the state government for issuing a nolle prosequi to discontinue the trial of suspected PDP thugs who were arraigned in court by the police for violently disrupting a rally by APC in Ika, his local government area.

    Senator Akpabio, recalled the attack on his residence and said the assassination attempt on Ekere was a panicky measure to intimidate the APC which is heading for victory in the state.

    “Now, it is very clear that this is an orchestrated attempt to intimidate the APC. When they say that APC is in opposition, I disagree. If we were in opposition before, now with the influx of Akwa Ibom people into APC in the last one and a half months, I can tell you that the APC is actually the majority party in Akwa Ibom State. What is happening is a panicky measure.’

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang said:  “we will not be threatened to back down on the decision to sweep Udom Emmanuel’s PDP Government out of Akwa Ibom State in the next election and to elect Obong Nsima Ekere as our Governor in 2019 because no matter the threats and antics, the people of Akwa Ibom State are determined.”

  • NDDC worker shot in Warri

    NDDC worker shot in Warri

    An employee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Francis Agba, was attacked by suspected robbers on Sunday.

    Agba, who took his wife to the General Hospital in Ekpan, Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, was attacked by a gang of armed men as he came out of the hospital premises. He was reportedly shot at point blank.

    Eyewitnesses said Agba, who was a target of suspected assassins, was killed, but official sources confirmed he survived the attack, though severely injured.

    NDDC’s Director of Corporate Affairs Ibitoye Abosede confirmed that Agba is an employee of the commission, but said he survived the attack. She added that the attack is believed to be a robbery attack.

    “Yes he was attacked by robbers; it was not an assassination attempt. He is alive and being stabilised in the hospital. He went to drop his wife in the hospital before the attack,” she said.

    Police spokesman Andrew Aniamaka said he was yet to get any situation report.

    “You are about the second person calling me over this, but the DPO of Ekpan has not given me any situation report to indicate any such incident. I’ll reach back to him and get back to you soon,” Aniamaka said.

  • Enugu deputy governor’s orderly shot dead

    Enugu deputy governor’s orderly shot dead

    The orderly to the deputy governor of Enugu State, Mrs. Cecilia Ezeilo was Tuesday night shot dead by unknown gunmen.

    The orderly, a police sergeant, whose name was given as Helen Sunday was shot at the usual place she drops at the Trans Ekulu area of Enugu after the day’s business few seconds after the official car zoomed off.

    The assailants, according to sources, took away her hand bag containing valuable items.

    Police sources ruled out assassination, but said “she was at the wrong place at the wrong time”.

    Enugu state police spokesman, Ebere Amaraizu confirmed the story.

    According to Amarizu, the deceased, who hails from Benue state, was “allegedly  attacked and killed around Trans Ekulu axis of Enugu on her way  back from work by yet to be identified person/persons over a yet to be established reason and motive.

    He said: “it is very unfortunate and painful news; we have commenced investigation and manhunt on all those behind the barbaric act.  ‎

    Amarizu added “If you look at what happened, it is painful and sad to hear that aide to deputy governor was shot dead on her way back after daily activities. “We can’t really say exactly what happened now but we are trying to find out.”

    No arrest has been made.

     

  • God saved me, says shot bricklayer

    God saved me, says shot bricklayer

    Forty-year old Yinka Olatunji who was macheted and shot when the police and some hoodlums stormed Imowonla in Ikorodu, last Tuesday, has thanked God for his survival.

    Olatunji, a bricklayer, is afraid of a fresh attack if discharged from the hospital.

    He told The Nation: “I still keep wondering how I got into this condition. I am a bricklayer; that is what I do for a living. I don’t have any connection with land grabbing matter. I woke up as early as 6:30 am on Tuesday morning to go and complete the work I am doing on a site. Around 7am, I wanted to get started when I remembered I needed to call a labourer who can assist me. I was about to move outside when I heard noise and saw some guys with arms together with some policemen, they held guns and the guys shouted, ‘he is part of them’ they quickly ran towards me and I started shouting I am a bricklayer, I only came to work.

    “They surrounded me and started macheting me. I was helpless. The policemen were there watching the guys brutalising me. One of policemen later pitied me and told his colleagues that he is sure I am not part of the land grabbers as I have said I am a bricklayer. So they shouldn’t allow me to die in their hands. That was when the guys stopped and they drenched me with a bowl of soaked clothes they sighted and left me helpless. They shot in the air.

    “I was crawling when some women ran to help me before my people rushed me to the hospital. I have been here since Tuesday. The doctor already told me that I can be discharged but I decided to wait behind because I am afraid I can be attacked again. I have three kids who still need care. I am appealing to the Lagos State Government to rescue us in Imowonla. I can’t bear all this trouble. We are not safe.”

    The hospital’s Medical Director, Dr Ismail Akeem, said Olatunji had been discharged but he refused to go home, adding: “He pleaded to still be in our custody for his safety and security. He was brought on Tuesday morning badly injured. We confirmed injuries at his back, hands, thigh and head close to his skull. We had to quickly commence treatment because he was at the verge of death as he has lost lot of blood. Even while they brought him, we were careful because we still heard continuous gun shots.”

  • Two MOPOL shot dead in Warri

    Three persons were Monday killed in two separate incidences within the Warri metropolis; two policemen shot dead by unidentified gunmen and a suspected armed robber roasted by an angry mob.

    The Nation gathered that the two policemen, who were dressed in mufti, were shot dead at the Airport Junction roundabout at about 1:PM. Eyewitnesses said they had stopped by a roadside mobile phone seller stand, reportedly pricing a phone.

    “The two guys stood over there, pricing phones, all of a sudden, a vehicle pulled up behind them and some guys, about two of them, just came out of the vehicle and opened fire on the two of them. The killers zoomed off as soon as they had brought their targets down. It was like they trailed them to that point.

    “Initially, everybody scampered away from the whole area at hearing the gun sound, but by the time the tension was going down and people ran back to the spot, we discussed that one of them was still alive. We later realised they were MOPOL men because we saw the ID card of the dead victim,” Mr Ahmed, one of the eyewitnesses told the Nation.

    Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of the Delta state police command, Celestina Kalu (DSP), said the victims in the shooting were mobile policemen from 27 PMF, Katsina, attached to the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Warri.

    Giving the names of the two deceased policemen as Cpl Usman Ango and Cpl Usman Adamu, Kalu described the incident as armed robbery, adding that the state’s police command had commenced investigation into the matter.

    “Today 9/5/2016, at about 1400hrs, information was received that about three hoodlums had attacked two men near Our Lady High School, by the Airport Road Junction, Warri. A team of patrol went to the scene and found one dead at the spot, took photographs and evacuated the corpse to the Central Hospital mortuary, Warri, for autopsy. The second victim was later confirmed dead at the hospital.

    “It was later discovered that the two victims were mobile policemen from 27PMF, Katsina, attached to the JTF in Warri. They were identified by the JTF commander as F/No 247552, Cpl Usman Ango and F/No 265569, Cpl uIsman Adamu. According to the JTF commander, the two corporals took permission to go and collect money at the bank on mufti, without their arms.

    “Investigation is in progress, effort is being made to arrest the fleeing culprits”, she said in a brief message.

    Meanwhile, in the earlier hours of yesterday, a mob of angry residents of Warri burnt a suspected armed robber, who was simply identified as Emma Blues.

    He was reportedly taken from one of the streets in the Marine Quarters, beaten to death by the First Marine Gate Junction along the Warri/Sapele Road, where his corpse was burnt.

    Although there were many stories to why he was lynched, all depicting him as a very notorious and bloodthirsty criminal, the most recent seemed to be about a man from whom he had allegedly collected about N500, 000 at gun point Monday.

    ”The boy’s name is Emma Blue, he is a notorious criminal in this area, he has been arrested several times and released by the police. This time around he went to rob and was caught in the process. They should continue to burn them to serve as deterrent to others,” one of the eyewitnesses said.

    When reached for confirmation on the development, police spokesperson, Kalu (DSP) said the police got the information late and that by the time the command’s personnel got to the scene, the mob had dispersed.

    “Investigation has commenced on the matter,” she assured.

     

  • Shot in the arm

    •N350bn earmarked to stimulate economy is a good elixir at this point in time

    After months of palpable meltdown, the economy seems finally set to receive the much-needed shot in the arm as promised by the Buhari administration.  Emerging from a two-day National Economic Council (NEC) retreat in Abuja last week, finance minister Kemi Adeosun outlined the administration’s plan to spend N350 billion – a  component of the 2016 Budget – to stimulate the economy. The plan primarily seeks to get contractors that have stopped work due to paucity of funds to re-engage staff and get back to work. This, according to her, “would bring significant economic activity.”

    Also on the cards is a legislative approval to change the requirement for counterpart funding for the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme, to reduce the burden on state governments. As against the existing plan which requires states to pay 50 percent as counterpart fund to access UBE funds, the new plan seeks to reduce that requirement to 10 per cent – a move expected to free up an estimated N58 billion currently un-accessed by state governments. NEC’s view was that the fund would go a long way to address around 1,000 of the worst classrooms in each of the 36 states, with massive spin-offs on job creation and improved economic activity.

    We couldn’t agree more with the premise that the economy needs all the help it can get at the moment – and fast too. Most certainly, one of the most important steps to take is to get the contractors back to their sites. If only for the sake of the 197,000 kilometres of federal roads of which only 18 percent is barely passable; the daily agonies of motorists on the death traps that the roads have been reduced to, as well as the humongous costs of vehicle maintenance and, of course, the countless man-hours lost on the highways, the intervention could not have come at a better time.

    Well channelled, the massive spend will surely help bridge the infrastructure gap, a steady path towards boosting domestic manufacturing capacity while supplying a launch pad for industrial competitiveness.

    The case for the reduction of the counterpart contributions to UBE fund is just as compelling. Today, many states, pressed for cash, are barely able to meet their monthly obligation to workers not to talk of raising counterpart funds required to access UBE funds. The result is the huge pool of funds lying idle in UBEC accounts – funds that could have gone a long way to upgrade infrastructure in our public schools. It certainly makes a lot of sense to reduce the counterpart fund to such a level that would allow more states to benefit.

    There are however additional reasons why the massive funds will come as a soothing balm at this time. First, is the fact that the economy in recent times has shrunk considerably. Across the states of the federation, it is a case of double jeopardy: at a time of severe cutbacks in capital spending, which makes any prospects of infrastructural renewal forlorn; the other reality is one of arrears in wages and salary sometimes running into several months. The situation, particularly the severely curtailed disposable incomes, carries the risk of further depressing the economy. The huge spending should help lift economic activities across the states.

    The second factor is the multiplier effect expected to be generated right across the demand and supply value chain to the overall economy; the countless linkages and the spin-offs – oftentimes indeterminate – are what the economy badly needs at this time to lift her out of the current gloom.

    As always, we recognise that there is a world of difference between intentions and outcomes. The huge vote is certainly no guarantee that the goals outlined will be met. The real challenge is for the implementing agencies to ensure that values – commensurate with the sums expended – are delivered. That being the test of budget discipline and implementation is where Nigerians expect the Buhari administration to make a difference from what obtained in the past.

  • Rangers coach shot by unknown gunmen

    Rangers coach shot by unknown gunmen

    Rangers coach Charles Offordile is in hospital after he was shot by unknown gunmen in Enugu on Monday.

    Rangers spokesman Foster Chime confirmed the incident, but said the coach is responding to treatment in an Enugu hospital.

    “He is getting better and responding to treatment. The team management has visited him already,” Chime disclosed.

    Sketchy details suggested the assailants may be known to the coach.

    Rangers are due to face El Kanemi Warriors in a Federation Cup quarterfinal in Abuja today.

    They are 10th on the league table with 32 points from 22 matches.

  • PDP chieftain, 12 others shot dead in Benue

    PDP chieftain, 12 others shot dead in Benue

    Unknown gunmen yesterday shot dead a Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) chieftain, Chief Atoza Hidan in Katsina Ala, Benue State..

    Also shot dead around Yoyo District in the town were12 other people after an attack the gunmen launched on the settlement. According to an eyewitness Chief Hidan was shot while inspecting a work done at his building near the Federal Low Cost Housing estate in Katsina Ala.

    He was said to have been killed in the presence of his police orderly and his assistant, who were with him at the site of the building project.

    The gunmen were said to have arrived on a motorcycle and immediately opened fire on the Second Republic lawmaker who was sitting under a tree.

    He was said to have been shot in the head by the gunmen who fled immediately, giving him no room to survive.

    The killing of Chief Hidan brought to seven the number of PDP members killed by unknown gunmen in Katsina Ala in recent times.

    The son of the late politician and the immediate past commissioner for commerce and industry, Terfa Hidan, described the death of his father as shocking and unfortunate .

    In a telephone interview with The Nation, the son of the deceased described his father as an easy going man and wondered the motive behind his killing .

    Police spokesman, DSP Austine Ezeala, confirmed the incident, saying that 14 persons had been arrested with armed and ammunition in Makurdi in the last one week .

    He said investigations had commenced to fish out the culprits

  • A shot in the arm

    A shot in the arm

    • But the N220b MSME fund initiative ‘ll succeed only if past pitfalls are avoided

    IN an economy where venture capital is perennially in short supply, and when available, is never really accessible to a sector regarded as critical in the nation’s growth matrix, the N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Fund, an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), could not have come at a better time. Launched by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja last week, the fund seeks primarily to boost funding to this critical sector.

    Under the guidelines of the fund, each state of the federation will be able to access N2 billion, to be administered to beneficiaries at an interest rate of nine per cent. Sixty per cent of the fund is said to be earmarked for women in order to address their peculiar financial exclusion circumstances; another two per cent is reserved for economically active physically challenged entrepreneurs.

    In all, 50 per cent, according to CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, will go to Small and Medium Enterprises, while 9.75 per cent will be used for capacity building for prospective entrepreneurs.

    Ten states have reportedly signed Memoranda of Understanding with the CBN to access the fund. These are Delta, Akwa Ibom, Osun, Oyo, Bayelsa, Gombe, Zamfara, Enugu, Ondo and Benue.

    It must be said that the beauty of the latest initiative isn’t necessarily because it is anything new, but in the possibility that it will profit from similar initiatives in the past which failed. After all, we have had, before now, all manner of micro-credit schemes ostensibly designed to give succour to the informal sector. The challenge is to understand why previous well-meaning efforts failed.

    A lot has been said of how some beneficiaries in the past treated such funds as freebies –their proverbial share of the national cake – with no obligation to repay. Capacity issues which reflect not only in the poor understanding of the environment for doing business, but in the businesses’ failures to undertake the elementary tsask of book-keeping, have equally been highlighted – aside the twin issues of non-responsive bureaucracy and corruption.

    The bigger part of the story however, must be seen in the hostile, if not impossible economic terrain in which small and medium scale businesses have only a fleeting chance of survival. Clearly, nothing has changed in any significant sense, at least as far as the environment for doing business is concerned. Not only has the challenge of infrastructure endured, there has been little progress in terms of getting SMEs adopt best practices so vital to accessing credit. There is also the issue of inadequate skills pool from which the prospective entrepreneurs can hope to draw upon.

    These challenges, though not insurmountable, remain impregnable. The latest initiative will do well to have these challenges at the background.

    Having said that, the N220 billion can make a lot of difference, in direct terms and also by way of multipliers to the economy. We cannot agree more with the perspective of the trade and investment minister, Olusegun Aganga, when he noted that only eight percent of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the country have access to financing despite accounting for about half of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). No doubt, the sector deserves more than a shot in the arm.

    As for the proposal to set 9.75 per cent of the funds aside for capacity building for prospective entrepreneurs, we see it as an important step forward. We can only add that the Federal Government complement this by fast-tracking the pace of development of critical infrastructure without which the businesses stand no chance of being competitive. Shorn of the typical tardiness and graft as we have seen of other initiatives, this one might just make a difference.

  • ‘How rebels shot down Malaysian jet’

    ‘How rebels shot down Malaysian jet’

    Indications emerged yesterday how Pro-Russia rebels in Eastern Ukraine might have shot down the Malaysian airline MH17 last Thursday, killing 298 people on board.

    The plane was travelling to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, Holland before it was shot in Eastern Ukraine airspace.

    A motorist captures military truck carrying BUK M1 in border town.

    He filmed a military truck on main road for two kilometres in ‘border area’ of Russia at 8.45pm on Saturday

    Ukrainian sources have seized the footage and branded it ‘film of the BUK, the one that shot the Boeing’

    A BUK launcher was pictured rumbling into pro-Russian rebel-held Torez just two hours before crash

    Ukraine’s security agency, the SBU, has released recordings of intercepted phone calls, claiming they prove Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a group of Russian-backed Cossack militants

    Neither recording – which allegedly includes a Russian military intelligence officer – could be independently verified

    Laughing rebels filmed the plane as it crashed, gleefully bragging ‘that was a blast – look at the smoke!’

    Is this the BUK missile system back home in Russia after shooting down flight MH17?

    A driver followed the military truck on a main road for two kilometres in a ‘border area’ of Russia before uploading the footage, filmed with a dashboard camera, on the internet.

    The cargo had no escort and Ukrainian sources have seized on it, captioning the footage: ‘A Russian blogger filmed the BUK M1 in Russia, the one that shot the Boeing.’

    ‘For two kilometres, a blogger from Russia has been driving behind covered BUK 1M which, according to his words, had been driving from the Ukrainian border. His opinion is that it is exactly that BUK that made the shot,’ said one version spreading on the web.

    The driver is heard saying: ‘No kidding.’

    While the footage is visibly in Russia rather than Ukraine, the exact location is not given.

    A second truck is also evident in some frames.

    It was filmed at around 8.45pm on Saturday.

    Reports from Ukraine suggested the BUK had been smuggled in the dead of night into Russia soon after the plane was blasted out of the sky last Thursday.

    It came after images were released of a launcher rumbling through Torez, held by pro-Russian separatists, just two hours before the Malaysia Airlines flight was shot down.

    In a tense phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister David Cameron, said Russia would have to ‘present compelling and credible evidence’ that the Kremlin-backed separatists were not to blame for 298 people – including 10 Britons – being killed, despite the images and footage.

    He told Mr Putin that blocking international investigators and rescue teams from accessing the site was ‘indefensible’, a Downing Street spokesman said.

    Mr Cameron is furious that Mr Putin has kept him waiting despite the British death toll. A Downing Street source said Mr Cameron was expressing his anger that ‘ten of my citizens have just been killed with a plane that was brought down by a missile that was shot by Russian separatists’.

    A Downing Street source admitted there was ‘a sense of frustration that we have not been able to speak to him sooner’. Following the call, Mr Cameron wrote on Twitter: ‘I’ve just spoken to President Putin. I made clear he must ensure access to the crash site so the victims can have proper funerals.’

    Pro-Russian rebels yesterday said they had recovered the black boxes from MH17 and taken them to Donetsk where they will be handed over to international investigators.

    Rebel leader Aleksander Borodai told a news conference in Donetsk: ‘Some items, presumably the black boxes, were found, and they have been delivered to Donetsk and they are under our control. There are no specialists among us who could pinpoint the look of the black boxes, but we brought to Donetsk some technical items which could be the black boxes of the airliner.’

    However, Ukrainian security officials claimed yesterday that Russia has reinforced rebels with three multiple rocket launchers and four heavy tanks, while massing troops on the border.

    Pro-Kiev authorities released details of what they claimed to be a recording of a phone calls from Friday afternoon between a senior rebel commander and a number of his men at the crash site discussing MH17’s black boxes.