The Nation Newspaper

Tag: soldiers

  • PDP faults APC on deployment of soldiers for polls

    PDP faults APC on deployment of soldiers for polls

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential organisation has criticised the All Progressives Congress (APC) for kicking against deployment of soldiers for the rescheduled general elections.

    In a unanimous judgment, five Justices of the Appeal Court, sitting in Abuja last week, ruled that it was unconstitutional for the Federal Government to deploy soldiers for elections.

    Justice Aboki, who read the lead judgment, said: “Even the President of Nigeria has no powers to call on the Nigerian Armed Forces to unleash them on peaceful citizenry who are exercising their franchise to elect their leaders.

    “In the event of insurrection or insurgency, the call on armed forces to restore order must be with approval of the National Assembly… as provided in section 217(2) and 218(4) of the Constitution as amended”.

    It was against this backdrop that the leadership of the APC wrote to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and President Goodluck Jonathan, demanding that the ruling of the appellate court be respected.

    But at a media briefing in Abuja yesterday, the PDP presidential campaign spokesman, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, disagreed with the APC on the court’s verdict, describing it as “campaign of calumny against the military”.

    Fani-Kayode said for opposing the deployment of soldiers for the polls, the APC was planning to cause security breaches in the weeks ahead.

    He said: “It is now very clear to us that the APC is determined to cause security breaches in the next few weeks. “

  • Fayose disagrees with judges on use of soldiers for polls

    Fayose disagrees with judges on use of soldiers for polls

    •APC to governor: stop denigrating judiciary

    Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has slammed appellate court judges for affirming a Federal High Court ruling that it is illegal to use soldiers for election duties.

    Fayose, who featured in his monthly media chat “Meet Your Governor”, accused the Justice Abdu Aboki-led five-man jury of “playing to the gallery” in holding that the President lacked the power to deploy troops for elections.

    The governor insisted that the President had the power to deploy the military to any part of the country. He accused the opposition and other critics of soldiers’ involvement in election of crying wolf where there was none.

    Fayose accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of hypocrisy, saying the party which is opposed to the deployment of the military for elections won the governorship election in Osun State, which involved the use of soldiers.

    There was outcry over the “militarisation” of the Osun elections, contrary to Fayose’s views.

    He accused the opposition of employing propaganda in the audio recording of a secret meeting in which military officers and senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members allegedly plotted to rig last June 21  governorship election.

    But the APC slammed the governor, accusing him of holding a revered institution as the Judiciary in contempt.

    It said his latest verbal attack on judges smacked of contempt of court and brazen attempt to blackmail the judges.

    Its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatubosun, in a statement yesterday, said the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal could not be wrong in delivering judgments banning the use of the military for electoral duties.

    “His attack on the judges is a continuation of his assault on the judiciary when he allegedly led thugs to attack the judges of the State High Court, tore their cloths and court records in the Chief Judge’s office while the CJ’s secretary was beaten up.

    “How can a Federal High Court in Jos and the Appeal Court make a pronouncement on the same subject banning the Federal Government from deploying soldiers for elections and it now becomes the lot of only Fayose among the nation’s politicians to raise objection and castigate the judges?

    “To demonstrate his depth of lawlessness and desperation, he went ahead to denigrate the Appeal Court judges as  APC’s allies in the judiciary who can never stop President Goodluck Jonathan from deploying soldiers for elections.

    “Fayose was declared governor because he was supported by the military as revealed in the audio tape that captured the voices of some characters that helped him rig his purported election.

    “This is a man who denied that his voice was caught on tape planning rigging with his co-conspirators but later admitted when the evidence was too glaring.”

  • Is election shift not road to Golgotha?

    President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, in his bid to hang tenaciously onto power, is tormenting the peace of the nation’s ancestors. Whether through his aides’ unguarded statements or by his body language, conduct and lingo in the past weeks, he seems determined to truncate this democracy if the coming 2015 Presidential election will not go his way. When everything pointed in the direction that he would lose the election, he confirmed the fears in public space that he would tinker with the independence of INEC: He covertly compelled the electoral body through Sambo Dasuki, his National Security Adviser (NSA), and military service chiefs to shift the election dates – just precisely a week to the conduct of the presidential election initially slated for February 14.

    Quite interestingly, like a patient dog that eats the fattest bone, Nigerians that are determined for CHANGE are eagerly waiting for next six weeks to come for them to use their votes to show Jonathan the way out of Aso-Rock Villa. This president seems to have forgotten the tribulations that Nigerians endured before the birth of the ongoing democratic project. But for the toil of courageous Nigerians that stood up against military dictatorship, probably, the president, who never hitherto stepped out of the country, and perhaps the Niger-Delta, would be rotting away somewhere in Otuoke, Bayelsa state. Now, he wants to overstretch the elasticity of his destiny by daring to submerge the echoes of CHANGE in order to realise his own infamous over-ambition for another term in office.

    The president pretends before the entire world that he knows nothing about INEC’s shift of election dates when he is the main architect of the political rigmarole. This government is showing grave disregard for the country’s past because of his having been blinded by the awesome power at his beck. From the first republic when the mobile unit of the police force was created to suppress the opposition of that era to the second republic when the same mobile police were deployed to intimidate, harass and tyrannise the opposition, the end was always dismal for perpetrators. From Ibrahim Babangida’s charade called transition to democratic rule when he used the military with impunity to repress and suppress people’s resistance against the satanic annulment of the June 12 1993 election and; Abacha’s use of same method to facilitate his failed transmutation agenda down to Olusegun Obasanjo’s use of military to win election at all cost, there had been a dire consequence for such political iniquity.

    History is currently repeating itself under Jonathan who has been using the military to commit all sorts of atrocities including the deployment of soldiers and masked intelligence and police service operatives to harass the opposition at electioneering period. Does the law allow for the use of soldiers during elections? The answer is capital NO! The 1999 Constitution in section 215(3) vests the Nigeria Police Force with the power to exclusively maintain and secure public safety and order. But there is, however, a circumstantial moderation over this police role in the second leg of provisions of Section 217(2) of same Constitution that empowers the president to deploy the armed forces only for the suppression of insurrection and while acting in aid of civil authorities including the police to restore law order. What is apparent today is that there is no insurrection or civil disturbance except in 14 local governments cutting across the troubled three north-east states out of 774 councils in the federation where the Boko Haram insurgents hold way.

    So far, there are no civil disturbances in the remaining 760 local governments across the federation or any sign of it that the police cannot contain to warrant military intervention. Even when the president needs to take extraordinary security measures as enshrined in Section 305, he still must go through the national assembly to seek and obtain its approval for a specified timeline. Reading this two Sections (215 and 217), this column believes that it is only clear that the president can only deploy the military while trying to aid the police to restore peace and order when it has broken down. Otherwise, the president can deploy the armed forces for internal security in cases of suppression of insurrection which includes the devastating Boko Haram insurgency. From the intent/spirit of the grundnorm, it is clear that the military has no place in election matters and the elections’ dates should not have been shifted because the military threatened not to provide security. What is the position of the Inspector General on this issue?

    There have also been judicial pronouncements on the matter and in this regard the Court of Appeal judgment in Yusuf v Obasanjo (2005) 18 N.W.L.R.(Pt 956) 96 remain instructive: Salami JCA ( as he the was) held: “It is up to the police to protect our nascent democracy and not the military, otherwise the democracy might be wittingly or unwittingly militarised. This is not what the citizenry bargained for in wrestling power from the military in 1999. Conscious step or steps should be taken to civilianize the polity to ensure the survival and sustenance of democracy.” The current move to stall democracy via postponement of the election by the NSA, the military and the PDP is an efforts aimed at militarising the electoral process which is illegal and criminal.

    Also in the case of Buhari v Obasanjo (2005) 1 WRN 1 at 200, Abdullah JCA observed: “In spite of the non-tolerant nature and behaviour of our political class in this country, we should by all means try to keep armed personnel of whatever status or nature from being part and parcel of our election process. The civilian authorities should be left to conduct and carry out fully the electoral processes at all levels”. The Supreme Court in its appeal judgement in the same Buhari v Obasanjo (2005) 50 WRN 1 at 313 states that the State must make sure that “citizens who are sovereign can exercise their franchise freely, unmolested and undisturbed.” This molestation obviously obtain in a military-infested polity being bred by Jonathan. It is regrettable that the election was postponed but Nigerians would not condone such evil deed in the nearest future. The election could have gone ahead despite the military’s illegal threat if INEC had been calm enough to read and digest properly section 25 of the Electoral Act which allows the electoral body to deploy his power for election postponement only where there is verifiable threat of breakdown of law and order ‘in the area or areas’ under scrutiny.

    To Mr President and his goons, Nigerians are saying enough of politics of cluelessness. They want a break from the cycle of PDP’s political servitude for enthronement of a political movement as represented by APC with an echo that would be heard and appreciated by generations to come.

    Soldiers’ siege on Tinubu’s residence

    Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State is undisputably an enviable pillar of opposition politics in this country and more importantly, an inspiration and model in the current democratic movement against government ineptitude as exemplified by the President Goodluck Jonathan presidency.

    The move by the presidency to intimidate him by stationing armed soldiers around his house is nothing but a sheer waste of time, personnel and resources. Asiwaju is too experienced and familiar with this kind of desperate repressive official method to be subdued. He, in his fight for democratic enthronement that Jonathan is now enjoying, survived more crude and severe official antics that led to nowhere.

    Asiwaju, be assured that nothing will happen to you or any of us that truly believes that the time for CHANGE in this rotten system headed by Jonathan is now. You remain a worthy pillar of this inevitable crusade. I reserve further comments on Tinubu and his political exploits till a later period in the nearest future. Ride on

  • Fate of missing soldiers, policeman remains unknown

    Fate of missing soldiers, policeman remains unknown

    About one month after two soldiers and a mobile policeman attached to the Joint Task Force, ‘Operation Pulo (Oil) Shield” and their boat driver went missing in the creeks of the Niger Delta their whereabouts remain unknown. Their fate has become a subject of hush discussions in the barracks and military formations.

    The team was on a mission that is as mysterious as their whereabouts when they went missing  between Warri South West and Burutu local government areas of Delta State. Their  family members are anxious for news about them and the leadership of the Joint Task Force is yet to provide any plausible explanation as to what happened to them.

    Initial reports said they were killed by suspected illegal bunkering gangs. It was gathered that the criminals either shot and killed the military men or overran and sank their boat.

    The Commander of Sector 1 of the task force, Lt.-Col Bassey, who was contacted by our reporter, refused to divulge the details of the investigation into the incident. He said the military authority have merely declared the troops “missing”.  That was shortly after The Nation exclusively reported the incident.

    In spite of the commander’s claim, there are strong signals that the JTF may have given up the hope of finding the soldiers. It was learnt that the task force could not  confirm their deaths because their remains have not been recovered. It was gathered that that much was contained in the report of an investigation presented by Lt Col Bassey to the military hierarchy on the incident.

    A source at the Effurun Barracks base of the Sector I of the task force said : “We have concluded that the soldiers are died; what is only confusing is the circumstance of their death. What we are interested in are their bodies and how to retrieve their arms and ammunition.

    We want to find those (bodies and arms) and close the case,” the source told our reporter on condition of anonymity at the initial stage of the investigation.

    Since then, a massive search and manhunt launched by the soldiers’ colleagues have failed to yield fruits. Initial report that the remains of the soldiers were retrieved and deposited at the morgue of a government hospital in Warri was deflated by the military. Also, a report of the discovery of two bodies matching the description of two of the missing military men in a riverside community in the area could not be independently confirmed.

    A high ranking officer at the JTF Sector I also said the case was even more puzzling because “Those of us from the riverside areas know that the corpse of someone who drowns needs just about 24 hours to come to the surface of the water. It is been more than that now and we are yet to have any sign of their remains; something must be wrong somewhere.”

    The deployment of troops and detectives to the area to find the soldiers dead or alive, like other efforts, was futile. Instead, it led to mass exodus of panicky residents, particularly able-bodied men and women from the area because of fear of reprisal attacks by the military.

    Some of those who fled the area in search of safe haven in Warri and other towns in the wake of the search expressed perplexity over what transpired between the military and the suspected illegal bunkerers, particularly because of alleged cozy relationship between both sides in the illegal business of crude of theft in the area.

    Some of those who spoke with our reporter said the illicit oil deals were done by gangs led mostly by former militants with active supports of men of the JTF and the Nigerian Navy. “Anybody who knows the waterways, creeks and the strategic location of military posts will tell you that no vessel, even a speedboat, can pass into the open sea without soldiers seeing and searching them.

    “The soldiers and the boys doing these business are friends; they meet regularly drink together and share ideas and money. So, whenever there is any arrest or incidents like this it is only because something has gone wrong.”

    An Ijaw leader and traditional ruler in a Warri kingdom disclosed that he was forced to write a petition to Brigade Commander of the Nigerian Army in Benin City, when every effort made to get the JTF to destroy some illegal bunkering sites failed to elicit any action. “Instead of tackling the criminals as I demanded, the JTF men were advising me to be careful of getting involved because those behind the crime are very powerful. I saw a deliberate plot to force me into silence and allow business as usual to continue.”

    Our source said the petition to the military high command in Benin brought about some action and the closure of the bunkering site, but said, “I know that they merely moved from that place to a more welcoming area.”

    Independent investigations revealed that pipeline vandalism and theft of crude oil have gradually increased in the Forcados and Warri area of Delta State and locations around the Bayelsa axis of the Ramos River in recent times.

    An independent anti-bunkering group, Heroes of Peace Initiative, in a confidential letter to the Commanding Officer of the 3 Battalion, Effurun , in September 2014, noted that illegal bunkering activities had spiked up in the area. The letter, which was obtained by our reporter, detailed how the operation was being carried with list of the operators’ assets, location and modus operandi.

    It noted: “These bunkerers are currently using three to four flat bottom vessels to convey petroleum products monthly; that is one flat bottom vessel a week and they also have about 17 to 20 Cotonou boats, (with) which they load on a daily basis, especially night hours and conveying these products from one place to another freely, despite the watching eyes of the Nigerian Army, the Navy and the JTF present at the waters.”

    The group offered to provide pictorial evidences on the activities of the illegal bunkerers, should the JTF require their assistance to bring the perpetrators to book, adding, “You may as well send us your email address so that we would forward same to you.”

    zikoregha says half the story has not be toldHeroes of Faith Coordinator, Chief Futek Zikoregha told our reporter that the open offer was neither accepted by the task force nor was action taken to clamp down on the hotspot areas listed to include around Abrabebe Community and points on the Forcados Trunkline, Agip pipeline in Beniboye and Forcados Export line.

    Meanwhile, the insinuation that the fate of the missing soldiers was connected to the illegal oil deal was further fueled by the unwillingness of the relevant military authority to open up on the mission and circumstance under which the troops went missing in the volatile scene. There was also rumour but in the communities and the JTF that the occupants of the ill-fated boat were on illegal assignment when they disappeared.

    A local, who spoke on strict condition of anonymity, said, “Those who said the soldiers were on official duty should answer the question of why they used a private boat and a local driver, who is not on the payroll of the JTF. Do the JTF use local boat for ‘routine patrol’ instead of their gunboats?”

    Another very reliable source and informant for the military authority in the area told our reporter that prior to the incident there were altercations between the military men and the illegal bunkering ring leaders over the sharing of loots.

    It was gathered that trouble first started when the criminals allegedly paid some soldiers for access to an illegal bunkering point in the area.  “The way the deal done is that the operators give the JTF men money for a specific time or quantity of product to be loaded. During that time the JTF would not patrol the area where the loading is taking place but after the expiration of that time, the soldiers would resume their normal patrol.

    “The soldiers after collecting their share gave the boys the agreed hours to load the vessel that was brought into the creek. Unfortunately for them, the vessel did not complete loading before the time ran out. When the guys went to the soldiers, they said that they had already used up their time and if they wanted more time, they should pay additional money. “

    It was learnt that when the aggrieved party defied the order and went ahead with the loading, the crewmembers were arrested and taken to a military base where the man who brought the vessel was asked to pay a certain sum of money or risk having the boat’s crewmembers paraded before camera and newsmen. It was against this back ground of tension between the illegal partners that the soldiers went missing.

    Chief Zikoregha, who is the founder of the Heroes of Peace (Hope) Initiative and former Chairman of Forcados Community, said the allegations were not misplaced, adding that it was impossible for illegal rogue vessels to load their cargoes of stolen crude if JTF are not involved.

    “One of the ringleaders is a ‘repentant’ former militant leader, who patrols the area with mobile policemen and personal security details given to him by the Federal Government. Policemen who should be used to secure society are under the command of persons who use them for intimidation, harassment and illegal bunkering,” he said.

    Asked on the fate of the missing soldier, Zikorogha said “half the story has not been told,” and urged our reporter to dig deeper to ascertain why the two sides that had enjoyed cordial relationship suddenly fell apart enough to the point that soldiers were attacked and probably killed.

    Several attempts to get a formal interview with the JTF leadership proved abortive. The Coordinator of the task force’s Media Centre, Lt Col Ado Isa declined our request for comment on the incident. The military spokesperson who was recently posted to the task force, said the Commander of the JTF, Major General Emmanuel Atewe, had adequately addressed the issue during a press brief. But our finding revealed that the top army officer only spoke generally on soldiers who were killed in another incident in Bayelsa State.

  • Buhari: don’t deploy soldiers for polls

    Buhari: don’t deploy soldiers for polls

    All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate General Muhammadu Buhari said yesterday in Abuja that he opposed the deployment of soldiers for electoral duties.

    To him, it is the duty of the police to ensure security during elections.

    Gen. Buhari also said he was committed to Nigeria as a multi-religious society where every Nigerian will be free to practise his or her religion, adding that he will never support any move to either Christianise or Islamise Nigeria.

    The former Head of State spoke at meetings with the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, a delegation of the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union Election missions.

    He spoke just as the United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) said it was expedient for stakeholders in the electoral process to know the constitutional limit for elections and ensure that they are respected.

    He said: “No; I do not support deployment of soldiers for polls. It is police duty and I think there is no local government area in this country without the police.”

    At a meeting with the Catholic Bishops, Gen. Buhari said although he had been severally and consistently vilified and maligned, he had no personal religious agenda and neither would he support any moves by anybody or group of persons to either Christianise or Islamise Nigeria.

    Gen. Buhari, who was accompanied by his running mate, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the Director General of the APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Governor Rotimi Amaechi and a host of other members of the party’s PCC, said he “will not condone any initiative that seeks to promote one religion over the other”.

    He traced the cause of many of the challenges confronting the nation to unemployment, saying “in a country where a large percentage of the younger generation is unemployed and where no immediate respite is in sight, these challenges are prone to abound.” “Give them self improvement opportunities; offer them a view of a greater tomorrow and all these will be in the past,” he said.

    Gen. Buhari told the religious leaders that his administration would pursue a well planned agricultural programme in conjunction with development of the rural areas to exploit the multiplier benefits of agriculture, empower citizens and curtail rural-urban drift. Besides, solid mineral exploration and exploitation would be given a boost to generate employment.

    On corruption, Gen. Buhari maintained that “we already have laws and institutions empowered to fight against corrupt practices. All we need is the will to activate these structures and utilize them appropriately.”

    Catholic Bishops  Conference of Nigeria Chairman Bishop Ignatius Kaigama said the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria believes in the unity and progress of this country. He regretted the wide communication gap that exists between the leaders and the people. He hoped that the conversation was an indication of the willingness to establish a sustainable communication platform.

    At another meeting with a delegation from the United Nation (UN) and the African Union (AU), Gen. Buhari said that since the signing of the Abuja accord, he had, several times told his supporters to respect the law. “That is where we stand,” he added.

    He said INEC had played its last card and that there would be no room constitutionally for further postponement of the election. “We will continue to act responsibility but they should not tamper with the constitution of the country,” Gen. Buhari said.

    Gen. Buhari dismissed speculations about interim government, saying: “My party and I, as the presidential candidate, have made a statement on that issue; unless you want me to contradict myself. Our expectations are very clear, we said INEC has played its last card and that is the limit. Certainly, this 28th of March, there must be election and it is up to the government to ensure that the election is free, fair and credible.”

    UN Special Representative in West Africa Mohammed Ibn Chambers told reporters: “Nigerian stakeholders have accepted the fact that there’s a postponement and they are working in that context. All we need to be mindful of now is the constitutional limit for the elections and this should be respected.”

    While expressing deep concern over the postponement of the general elections, Chambers praised Nigerians for not resorting to violence, which he said normally follows such postponement.

    “We also expect the security agencies to be fair to all the parties, act professionally and to ensure an atmosphere in which Nigerians can freely express their free will in voting a candidate of their choice.

    “We have commended General Buhari, just like yesterday we had the opportunity to do same with President Goodluck Jonathan and his party the PDP. Both parties and their leaders have acted with great sense of maturity and we are very pleased with what we have seen.

    “We want Nigeria to continue to surprise the world and to come out of this election to set a high standard which will give Nigeria a moral authority that will enable it to continue to lead and be regarded as genuine and natural leader in West Africa and Africa.”

    The Chief of Mission of the EU Election Mission in Nigeria, Santiago Fisas, said: “We appreciate the commitment of the General to ask people to accept the postponement of the election. The most important thing is to stay and comply with the provisions of the constitution.

    “We think that it is not a good thing to postpone elections because that will erode the confidence of the people. If the parties have accepted the postponement, we have nothing to say again on our part.”

  • Soldiers assault reporter in Ekiti

    There was panic in Okeyinmi, Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, yesterday, where some yet-to-be-identified soldiers assaulted a reporter, Wole Balogun.

    The soldiers, in a bid to clear the traffic jam assaulted the reporter who they accused of causing an obstruction.

    Balogun was thrown to the ground by the soldiers who kicked and whipped him. They shunned entreaties from passersby.

    Narrating his ordeal, Balogun said he alighted from his car to ask a motorist blocking the road to give way when two of the soldiers emerged from nowhere and assaulted him.

    Said he: “Yesterday morning, I was driving to the State University (EKSU) campus for an event of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), which I was invited to cover.

    “As I approached the Okeyinmi roundabout opposite a bank in the area, there was traffic.

    “I tried to negotiate the bend so I could pass through Okeyinmi Road but a motorist, who was driving down from the same road, blocked my way.

    “I hooted several times but he was adamant. I came out of my car to meet him.

    “Two young soldiers appeared behind me and started beating me with their belts and boots. They whipped and kicked me several times and ordered me to enter my car and drive to anywhere.

    “All my attempts to explain the situation were rebuffed. They appeared infuriated by my explanation as they continuously hit me in the head.

    “I ran to my car and drove off. I couldn’t drive far because I was covered in blood and couldn’t see.”

    The state Chairman, Correspondents’ Chapel, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rotimi Ojomoyela, in a statement said: “The NUJ frowns at attacks against any journalist; there is no reason why any journalist should be attacked.

    “The jackboot approach by security operatives to settle disputes, especially their hostility towards reporters is becoming a daily affair.

    “Men of goodwill across the country should join the NUJ to protect us from those who are persecuting us daily, especially at the slightest provocation.

    “The NUJ will not take lying low issues of attack on any journalist any longer, nobody, no matter how powerful his gun is, can beat us to submission. We will fight back with our pen.”

  • Soldiers seize Rivers stadium for Jonathan’s rally

    Soldiers seize Rivers stadium for Jonathan’s rally

    • It’s height of impunity, lawlessness, says Amaechi
    • PDP gov. candidate inspects facility
    • APC office bombed in Patience’s home town
    • Don’t dare us, Police warn

    The oil city of Port Harcourt is on edge after armed soldiers were yesterday drafted to take over the Rivers State Government-owned Adokiye Amiesimaka Sports Complex in Igwuruta, Port Harcourt in readiness for Wednesday’s rally of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Earlier yesterday, hoodlums lobbed explosives unto the sports field of National School, Okrika in the state, which the All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship candidate,Mr. Dakuku Peterside ,had planned to use later in the day for his campaign.

    Okrika is the home town of First Lady Patience Jonathan.

    The APC blamed the attack on the PDP.

    The soldiers sealed off the two main entrances of the uncompleted stadium near the Port Harcourt International Airport at about 2am yesterday.

    They turned back construction workers and other ‘unauthorised people’ who went there at day break.

    The Rivers State governorship candidate of the PDP, Nyesom Wike, accompanied by several party leaders, was however let in yesterday to inspect the facility at about 12.55pm.

    About 20 soldiers and two Hilux vans were spotted at the complex.

    The Rivers State government accused President Jonathan and Wike of engineering the soldiers’ forceful seizure of the stadium and planning to create chaos in the state while the APC called the soldiers action a disgraceful show of force.

    Former Petroleum Resources Minister,Professor David Tam-West asked that the soldiers leave  immediately.

    Information and Communications Commissioner, Ibim Semenitari, said President Jonathan and Police Inspector General Suleiman Abba should rein in their people.

    Giving the state’s side of the story, Semenitari said: “The matter of the Adokiye Amiesimaka Sports Complex is a simple one. The complex is still under construction. As a work site, it is an unsafe environment for use at this time.

    “The PDP makes reference to the fact that the APC had held its rally at the same venue. What they failed to mention is that the contractor was moved out of site during the time the APC’s rally held and re-mobilised to site right after that rally.

    “With less than five months to the end of its tenure, the Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi’s administration is working on ensuring the completion of all its projects before the handover date of May 29th. With that being the case, the River State Government cannot move its contractors out of site at this time.

    “Unlike the PDP that has consistently refused the APC the use of stadia and other facilities in Abuja and other states where it is in control, the Rivers State Government has magnanimously offered the PDP the use of the Liberation Stadium Elekahia, which is also a state facility.”

    The Rivers government said that the resolve of the PDP leaders to unlawfully break into the Adokiye Amiesimaka sports complex was to fulfill the threat issued by some members of the party (PDP) that they would burn it down.

    The PDP chairman in the State Felix Obuah had earlier said that Governor Amaechi’s refusal to allow the party to use the stadium smacked of impunity.

    “We dare him, because it is not his personal property. On January 28, we are going to use that place. We have made official reports to the police, the DSS (Department of State Services) and all the other law-enforcement agencies,” Obuah said.

    Also reacting, the APC National Publicity Secretary,Alhaji Lai Mohammed  condemned the stadium seizure and called for an end to impunity.

    Former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Prof. Tam David-West, asked President Goodluck Jonathan to withdraw soldiers from the Adokiye Amasieamaka Stadium, immediately.

    The former minister described occupation of the stadium as a worrisome and dangerous trend.

    He said it is an impunity that can cause a lot of trouble, adding that it is a plot to cause crisis that will justify calls for shift of date for the next month election.

    “I strongly advise President Jonathan to withdraw soldiers from the stadium immediately to avoid confrontation and problem. We need peace in Nigeria, not war.

    “What PDP is doing is a plot to cause confusion to justify change of date of the election,” David-West said.

    Amaechi had on Tuesday asked the PDP to use the state-owned Liberation Stadium if it had no ulterior motive.

    The Okrika bombing took place at about 3.45am while contractors were erecting canopies and podium for the now cancelled rally.

    Two vehicles including a Toyota Highlander and Nissan Primera, were burnt by the hoodlums while a Ford cooling truck was also vandalised.

    APC chairman in Okrika, Christian Asifamaka, said of the attack: “In the wee hours of the morning of Saturday 24, 2015 at about 3:45am some armed youth started shooting at the venue of the APC governorship rally National school field Okrika.

    “Those setting up the sound system and the podium were forced to flee for their lives. At about 4am they started shooting explosives into the arena and destroyed the podium, sound equipment and some canopies.

    “Okrika is the home of Nigeria’s First Lady Mrs. Patience Jonathan. She was present and held the PDP governorship rally at the same venue on Thursday January 22, 2015.

    “The boys came in a white Hiace bus and allegedly came in from Igbiri a community that shares borders with Mrs. Jonathan’s Oba Ama community.”

    Peterside’s campaign organisation’s director of communications said: “Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, the APC’s governorship candidate, was expected to have unveiled his Roadmap to Prosperity, a revolutionary economic blue-print for the massive development of Rivers State to the Okrika electorate as well as highlight the choice space the area holds in the plan.

    “The cancellation was necessitated by the massive Friday overnight and early Saturday gun violence unleashed on members and supporters of APC in Okrika by suspected thugs hired and commissioned by the opposition PDP.  Heavily armed thugs had in the wee hours of the morning of Saturday 24, 2015 at about 3:45am, besieged the National School Field, Okrika, venue of the APC governorship rally and opened fire.

    “Workers setting up equipment and canopies were forced to flee, as bullets poured down like rainfall. By divine intervention, nobody died in the attack. The injured were rushed to different hospitals in Port Harcourt.”

    Soldiers were later deployed to the scene.

    An army officer said: “We are here to ensure that the situation does not escalate. Please, do not take any photograph for security reason.”

    The Rivers Police command confirmed the attack but vowed to enforce law and order and provide adequate security for all political parties and their members.

  • ‘Coward soldiers stalling Boko Haram battle’

    ‘Coward soldiers stalling Boko Haram battle’

    Nigeria’s campaign against Islamist Boko Haram insurgents is being hampered by “cowards” within the armed forces, National Security Adviser (NSA) Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) said yesterday in London.

    Boko Haram’s bloody uprising to carve out an Islamic caliphate has taken much of Nigeria’s northeast.

    “Unfortunately, we have a lot of cowards. We have people who use every excuse in this world not to fight,” Col. Dasuki told an audience at the Chatham House think-tank in the British capital.

    But, he stressed, “there is no high-level conspiracy within the army not to end the insurgency.”

    Col. Dasuki denied that the army was under-equipped, as critics have asserted, calling this an “excuse.” He said reinforcements had been sent in to retake Baga, the Borno town seized by the sect in  a January 3 raid, which reportedly led to the death of over 2,000 people but which the military authorities put at no more than 150.

    Col. Dasuki added: “That wasn’t that much of a multinational task force; it was by name (only), because they were all supposed to be physically there,” when in fact most were not.

    He added that the headquarters was being moved to the nearby Chadian capital N’Djamena, but that “Nigerians don’t see what the use is” of the regional force.

    Defending the funding of the military, Col. Dasuki said that the list of equipment lost in Baga included six armoured cars with 4,000 rounds of heavy ammunition in each, as well as artillery pieces.

    “Anyone who is saying that our soldiers are not well armed is not telling the truth. We had a lot of cowards, and it turned out there was a problem in the recruitment process … There were a lot of people who joined because they wanted a job, not because they wanted a career in the military. These are the people who ran away.”

    Col. Dasuki said the shortcomings in army recruitment were being fixed and that the army was now going through retraining, with British assistance. He added that two British trained army units had helped recapture Mubi in Adamawa State, taken by Boko Haram last October.

    He is confident the army could be reformed and retrained.

    “We have not only laid the blame on the soldiers. We have put officers on trial who have shown very poor judgment,” Col. Dasuki insisted. But he also had a clear message for the rank and file: “If you don’t want to fight, get out of the army. Don’t make excuses, saying that you’re poorly equipped.”

    The national security adviser admitted that the last major procurement of equipment for the army was more than two decades ago, but he stressed that sophisticated equipment was not essential for counter-insurgency.

    Dasuki said that Nigeria was taking a “holistic” approach to the counter-insurgency, looking at the political and social causes of radicalisation. He estimated that 70% to 80% of Boko Haram fighters were from the Kanuri, an indigenous group with ancient roots in north-eastern Nigeria, who have since been eclipsed by the Hausa and Fulani people.

  • Soldiers rescue 14 expectant teenagers, eight children

    Soldiers rescue 14 expectant teenagers, eight children

    Soldiers from the 144 Battalion, Asa in Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State have rescued 14 expectant teenagers and eight children from a baby factory. The police stormed the Nma Rehabilitation/Motherless Babies’ Home, at Umunkpeyi Nvosi, in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government, in an exercise lasted more than one hour.

    Two suspects aged between 16 and 25 years, who were thought to have been delivered of babies in the home and six young men, who claimed to be workers at the home, were taken into the soldiers’ custody. The owner of the home, Mrs. Nma Charity, ran away.

    It was learnt that she hid under the pretext of a facility  government approved to engage in a ‘baby factory’.

    A source said men were brought to sleep with the girls and were paid after impregnating them. The babies were sold for N80,000 (girl) and N150, 000 (boy).

    A suspect, who was caught at Eke Akpara on the outskirts of Aba when attempting to steal a baby, confessed that he and Mrs. Charity had been in the business for long.

    He said he sold stolen babies to the woman and she would later sell them to childless couples.

    About 10 expectant teenagers were at the home when soldiers raided the place, led by the Commanding Officer, 144 Battalion, Lt.-Col. Omolori Rasheed.

    A source at the battalion, who preferred anonymity, said the babies and the teenagers would be handed over to the National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters (NAPTIP), and the suspects would be handed over to the police for investigation.

  • DHQ confirms 14 soldiers dead

    DHQ confirms 14 soldiers dead

    Weekend’s clashes between Boko Haram insurgents and troops in Baga, Borno State, claimed the lives of 14 soldiers, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) confirmed yesterday. It said 30 others sustained injuries.

    The DHQ however said that the fighting was still ongoing in Baga and that many insurgents had been mauled down.

    A statement and a tweet by the Director of Defence Information, Maj-Gen. Chris Olukolade gave insight into the battle to reclaim Baga since Boko Haram invaded the fish town on January 3.

    There had been claims and counter-claims on the actual situation in the troubled community.

    While the Amnesty International alleged that more than 2,000 civilians might have died in the deadliest raid on Baga by Boko Haram, the DHQ said the actual figure of civilian casualties has not been creditably determined.

    The tweet said: “We are fighting in Baga. We are   taking terrorists down; we are losing our soldiers too…”

    But the statement was more specific on the situation of the war in Baga.

    Olukolade said: “A total of 14 soldiers were killed in action during the attack, while over 30 who were wounded are now receiving medical attention. Most of those declared missing in action have also rejoined their unit in the ongoing reorganisation for further operations.

    “Although several of the terrorists died in the course of the attack and efforts at repelling the assailants, the actual figure of civilian casualties is yet to be creditably determined as is being propagated in certain quarters.

    “The Nigerian military has not given up on Baga and other localities where terrorists’ activities are now prevalent. Appropriate plans, men and resources are presently being mobilised to address the situation.

    “The Nigerian component of the Multinational Joint Task Force which retreated from its Baga Headquarters last weekend and more of the troops are regrouping for necessary debriefing and briefing for subsequent missions.

    “It is necessary to reassure Nigerians that the Nigerian Armed Forces and security agencies are capable of flushing out the terrorists from Baga and all parts of the nation’s territory where their activities are prevalent. No portion of Nigeria’s territory has been or will be conceded to terrorists.

    “The use of all available resources within the armed forces will continue to be maximised to sustain the tempo of the counter-terrorism campaign towards containing and eradicating terrorism in the nation’s territory.

    “The support and understanding of all partners and neighbouring countries will however continue to be utilised where available and relevant in the conduct of the mission and in line with existing agreement and understanding.”

    In a separate statement last night, the DHQ said the interpretation of recent terrorists’ attacks by Amnesty International has vindicated the position of the military that troops never engaged in massacre of people in the town.

    The DHQ said: “This interpretation of the recent terrorists attack on Baga is quite valid. You will recall that the military has maintained all through that the troops never engaged in any massacre in Baga as some activists and the media alleged in 2013.

    “We have been insisting that such viciousness and barbarism were more typical of the terrorists’ pattern of operation than the action of the troops.

    “Unfortunately however, some interest groups and terrorist sympathisers for whom it is more convenient continued to misinform the world, have kept attributing the evil to Nigerian troops.

    “The attack on the town by the blood hounds and their activities since January 3rd, 2015, should convince well- meaning people all over the world that Boko Haram is the evil all must collaborate to end rather than vilifying those working to check them.

    “Those who have found it more convenient to insist on labelling the Nigerian military with allegations of human rights abuse using Baga as a reference should note this development.

    “Let us hope this will encourage them to begin placing blames where they belong. The priority of all our military action in this campaign has been the protection of our civilian population.”

    The DHQ said more troops had been deployed in Damaturu to secure Yobe, the state capital.

    Boko Haram insurgents had on Friday attacked Damaturu with the aim of seizing the town.

    But the insurgents were successfully repelled by troops.

    The DHQ confirmed that five soldiers were wounded in the counter-attacks on the insurgents.

    It added:  “The terrorists had launched massive attack from different directions of the town on Friday evening, but troops were promptly mobilised to repel the attack that lasted the night, resulting in heavy casualty on the terrorists before the rest of them retreated.

    “Weapons including IEDs and Rocket Propelled Grenades captured from the terrorists are being compiled while their dead as well as civilian casualties are yet to be determined.

    “Pursuit of the fleeing terrorists is also ongoing while the five soldiers who were seriously wounded in the attack are being treated in the military medical facility.

    “Although normalcy has been restored, the town is also being reinforced with more troops.”