Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Bloodbath as Tiv, Fulani clash in Benue
No fewer than 30 persons were feared dead in a fresh
clash between Fulani herdsmen and native Tiv farmers in Yogbo, Guma
Local Government Area of Benue State. This came as the Joint Task Force,
JTF, confirmed, yesterday, that 24 sect members were killed in Monday’s
spate of explosions and shootings in Maiduguri.
Full Story →
Managing Director, Capital Oil and Gas Limited, Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah
The
police in Lagos State on Tuesday accused the Managing Director, Capital
Oil and Gas Limited, Ifeanyi Uba and four principal officers of the
company, of concealing facts in order to get a release order from a
Federal High Court in Lagos.
Uba and the others are currently in the custody of
the Special Fraud Unit of the police in the state for allegedly
defrauding the Federal Government to the tune of N43bn through the fuel
susbsidy scheme.
Counsel for the police, Mr. Aderemi Adekile, told the
court presided over by Justice Okon Abang on Tuesday that the suspects
refused to inform the court that they were being remanded by “an order
of a court of competent jurisdiction”.
Adekile said this while explaining to the court his
inability to comply with an order of the court directing the police to
file a reply to the applicants’ motion on notice before 12pm on Tuesday.
Abang had on October 15 ordered that the ex parte
motion filed by the applicants’ counsel, Dr. Joseph Nwobike, (SAN), be
converted to motion on notice and served on the police for them to reply
to it if they so wished.
But Adekile told the court that he had not been able
to file his reply which he said was being delayed because of his
inability to “extract exhibits” from the police record.
He also said, “I will like to call the attention of this honourable court to a very important matter.
“The point is that the applicants in this case have
concealed the facts from this honourable court that there was an order
of court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to which the applicants are
being held by the Special Fraud Unit of Nigeria Police Force.”
The SFU on October 11 obtained an order of a Tinubu
Magistrate’s Court, Lagos which was presided over by Mr. Martins Owumi
to remand the suspects for 14 days to enable it to complete the
investigation of the alleged fraud.
The court adjourned till today (Wednesday) for hearing of the motion on notice.
Storm surges imminent in Lagos –Mabogunje
October 17, 2012 by Ayomikun Abiola 2 Comments
The Chancellor,
Bells University of Technology, Otta, Prof. Akin Mabogunje, on Tuesdat
said Lagos State has been projected as one of the mega cities likely to
be hardest hit by storm surges.
He said this at the first Oye Williams biennial
lecture held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs,
Victoria Island.
Mabogunje said, “Lagos is now projected as one of the
global mega cities likely to be hardest hit by storm surges over the
coming decades.
“Efforts made to prevent the frequency of ocean surges have remained ineffective and this is a major environmental challenge.”
He noted that lack of equilibrium of the western and eastern beaches led to the incidence of ocean surges.
“Before the construction of moles to stabilise the
water channels, the bar at the entrance to the Lagos lagoon was in a
state of equilibrium.
“The moles upsetting the equilibrium led to the
erosion of the eastern beach which later resulted in 1950, in the first
ocean surge into the lagoon.”
He explained that the changes in global climate have
increased the temperature level in the arctic region and can lead to
increase in the sea levels thereby causing flooding.
“The West Antarctic Ice sheet, largely below sea
level, has long been of concern for fear that when it eventually
collapses, it could rapidly add five meters to global sea levels.
“This will lead to the submerging of major coastal cities around the world,” Prof. Mabogunje said.
Mabogunje noted that due to the population density of the mega city, urban pollution also had become a major challenge.
He said, “It is easy to appreciate the enormous amount of wastes generated by such a large population.”
He added that the wastes had strained the capacity of the government for effective management.
President Goodluck Jonathan has said he will abide by Nigerians’ decision on the review of the constitution.
Jonathan said he would not alter their decision if they chose to amend any portion of the constitution through popular method.
The President spoke on Tuesday at an event organised
to mark the 80th birthday of a former Vice-President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme,
in Abuja.
Jonathan, who was represented by the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim, however, called on
Nigerians not live with one another with distrust.
He said, “The President has no intention to overturn
the decision of Nigerians on constitution review; he will abide by their
decision.
“The President will however want Nigerians to live together with trust because distrust will not lead us anywhere.
“What will strengthen the federation called Nigeria
is to have hope in our nation and be patriotic, which is the tonic that
drives any nation.”
Meanwhile, eminent Nigerians on the occasion
disagreed on the aspect of the constitution to be reviewed, especially
whether there was need to have the six-geo political zones.
While some insisted that there was need to have it in the constitution, others disagreed.
Ekwueme was the proponent of the six geo-political
zones at the 1995 National Constitutional Conference, where he was a
delegate.
The Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola
(SAN), set the tone for the discussion, when he asked how the
geo-political zones would be funded if it was enshrined into the
constitution.
He also wanted to know if that would not mean a
gradual return to regional government or even result in the
dismemberment of the nation.
Rather than blame the constitution, the governor said
its operators should be held responsible for its bad implementation,
adding that there was nothing wrong with agreements but those who made
the agreements.
The Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, said since the agreement (constitution) was faulty, it should be rectified.
The agreement, he said, must favour all, adding that
there was no way all the parties would be when the agreement did not
favour them.
He said there was no way some zones would have
between seven and six states whereas one would have five states and
there would be justice.
However, the Governor Rabiu Kwankwanso of Kano State,
who was represented by his deputy, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar, said
political zones should be scrapped.
He said there was no need for it, insisting that
those asking for it did not take the issue of land mass and population
into consideration.
Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Kingsley Kuku| credits:
Ex-Niger Delta militants undergoing reintegration have donated N52.7m to flood victims in the region.
A statement from the
Head of Media and Communications of the Presidential Amnesty Office, Mr.
Daniel Alabrah, quoted the Special Adviser to the President on Niger
Delta Affairs, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, as saying the money was donated by
26,358 beneficiaries of the Phase I and II of the amnesty programme.
According to Kuku, the
ex-militants agreed to contribute N2,000 each from the October
allowances to raise the N52.7m to those seriously affected by the
flooding disaster.
Alabrah said the members
of staff of the Amnesty Office also donated between 20 to 30 per cent
of their October salaries to flood victims in Bayelsa, Cross Rivers,
Delta, Edo and Rivers states.
He said an 18-man relief
committee of volunteers from the Amnesty Office headed by the Technical
Assistant on Reintegration, Mr. Larry Pepple, had been constituted.
According to Alabrah, the committee has
the responsibility of procuring relief materials and liaising with the
various state governments to distribute them to the beneficiaries.
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