Photos. Edo state local government workers stage protest over unpaid salary arrears

Edo state local government workers are currently staging a protest in the state over their unpaid salary arrears. The angry workers say the local government authorities have not paid their salaries ranging from two to eighteen months. More photos after the cut.

#Rio2016: Ese Brume ranks 5th in Long Jump Final, Divine Oduduru fails to Qualify for 200m Final

Divine Oduduru (L) and Ese Brume (R)

Nigeria’s track and field athlete, Ese Brume, 20, came in fifth in the finals of the women’s long jump event at Rio Olympics.

The event was won by U.S.A’s Tianna Bartoletta after jumping 7.17m. Ese lept 6.81m to come in fifth.

Similarly, Ejowvokoghene Divine Oduduru, 19, could not qualify for the finals of the men’s 200m race. He ranked 7th in his heat after clocking 20.59secs.

Image from keshi burial rite

With My Last Respect , i say Rest In Peace The Boss , here are the Photos From The funeral Burial Of Late Stephen Keshi , in Benin City Nigeria , More Photos From Stephen’s Keshi Funeral Service In Benin will come soon.

Read Tributes From Friends below.
TRIBUTES TO STEPHEN KESHI
Just like yesterday, I recall several write-ups and publications during the troubled times with the Football chiefs then as the Super Eagles gaffer
But when administrators sacrifice professionalism for mischief and devilments, of course they had their way but posterity has vindicated him. The immediate replacement nicknamed Pep Guardiola of Africa …the end is now a story. As the Yoruba adage say” Pasan ti won fi na Iyale…(complete the rest) meaning the cane used to flog the first wife, is still harbored for the 2nd wife. Of course the rest is history.
Up till now Nigeria has no substantive coach!

Military bombards Lagos, Ogun creeks, scores feared killed

There was pandemonium on Thursday in the Arepo area of Ogun State and some part of Lagos State after the military bombarded the base of suspected militants in the states.

The PUNCH learnt that scores of militants were reportedly killed in the joint military operation which lasted for more than one hour.

A source said the military attacked Fatola, the base of the militants, adding that houses around the area were shaken by the impact of bomb explosions on the Ijaw militants.

He said, “There has been a lot of commotion. The Nigerian Air Force bombarded Fatola, in Arepo, which is the base of the militants. They are shelling the place with fighter jets. Some soldiers also surrounded the area to make sure that if any of the militants should run out, they would be gunned down.”

A resident said people in the area had started fleeing their homes due to the bombardment.

Another resident in the Imushin area of Ogun State told our correspondent that two aircrafts were involved in the operation, adding that only one base of the militants was attacked.

He said, “An aircraft had actually been surveying the creek for the past three days. But a second one joined this evening around 6pm. All we heard was a sudden bomb blast released from the second aircraft. But it appeared that some of the militants had fled into the bush. There are four major bases of the militants in the creek and they are led by two men- OC and Agbala. If the military can get these two people, then they would have succeeded in clipping the wings of the militants.”

A community leader, who claimed to have spoken with one of the officers, said, “The military officer said residents should not panic because it was a military exercise. I also gathered that the casualty figure was high and that a lot of the militants had been killed.”

The Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, confirmed the operation, saying it involved the army and the navy.

He said, “The military only conducts its routine operation for the purpose of denying the vandals and other criminal elements from causing terror in the area. The operation, codenamed, Operation Awatse, was initiated by the defence headquarters to dominate the area with a view to flushing out all manners of criminals including militants and saboteurs. The operation involved the joint forces of the navy and army and it has been successful.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State, SP Dolapo Badmos, said the police were part of the operation.

She said, “The Nigerian military and policemen from the Lagos and Ogun commands are part of the operation. We are sweeping through the waterways where we share boundaries to end the activities of the militants. It is a continuous exercise and we cannot tell the number of casualties.”

The acting Police spokesperson, ASP Abimbola Oyeyemi, promised to call back our correspondent, but he had yet to do so as of press time.

APC wins Imo rerun election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Mr Ben Uwajumogu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of Imo North Senatorial District rerun election held on July 28.

Uwajumogu scored 56,076 votes to defeat Mr Athan Achonu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 43, 815 votes.

Prof. Arinze Agbogu, the INEC Returning Officer for Imo North Senatorial District, who announced the result in the early hours of Friday, said the outcome was a summation of scores of July 23 and that of July 28 exercise.

Uwajumogu, had scored 48,921 on July 23, while Achonu, of the PDP, scored 40, 142 votes which made INEC to declare the rerun inconclusive.

Agbogu said that available data before him showed that Uwajumogu had majority of lawful votes cast, and therefore returned elected for the Imo North Senatorial District.

Similarly, INEC declared Mr Nkenna Nzeruo of the APC winner of Oru East State Constituency, while Mr Collins Chiji also of APC was declared winner for Isiala Mbano State Constituency.

The two state constituencies’ elections were equally declared inconclusive due to reported cases of violence that marred the exercise in some communities in the two areas on July 23.

Uwajumogu told journalists in Owerri that he was highly elated over the victory, adding “my gratitude goes more to Gov. Rochas Okorocha whose structure helped me to win this senatorial election’’.

Indonesian newspaper apologises over execution story error

An Indonesian English-language newspaper on Friday apologised after it ran a front-page story erroneously declaring that 14 drug convicts had been executed.

Indonesia executed four convicted drug traffickers just after midnight Friday, after the attorney general’s office said 14 death-row inmates would be put to death.

The Jakarta Post said the paper had been printed before it learned that only four convicts, not 14, were shot by firing squad.

The Post’s chief editor, Endy Bayuni said the story was accompanied by a photo showing a sister of Pakistani drug convict Zulfikar Ali, who was among the 10 spared, weeping while holding his portrait.

“The failure to do the verification before running the story is completely unprofessional and a serious violation of the main principles of good journalism.

“The Jakarta Post sincerely apologises to all our readers, particularly to all those affected by the story, for this major failure,’’ Bayuni said.

I didn’t receive N3tn allocation as governor – Amaechi

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said on Thursday that he did not receive over N3tn allocation as governor of Rivers State.

He said therefore he never squandered such amount as alleged by his successor, Nyesom Wike.

Amaechi said this at a stakeholders’ a stakeholder’s meeting on the London Summit on Anti-Corruption and the Open Government Partnership.

The event was co-organised by the Federal Ministry of Justice and  the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, Justice For All project.

Amaechi said the Rivers State people were aware of how much he received while he was governor, adding that his successor was only fabricating lies against him.

He said, “Within that period we insisted on engaging the indigenous communities on how much we received and how we spent the money.

“That is why I feel that after this ministerial appointment, I should do everything possible to stay away from government because in spite of all the forms of transparency I introduced in government, one man could begin to tell lies to Nigerians and Nigerians believe him.

“The governor of Rivers State said I squandered N3tn. I did not receive up to N1.8tn as governor both from IGR and funds from federal allocation. So, how could I have squandered money I did not even receive in the first place? You can see the politics of lies and lies.”

Amaechi insisted that he was not corrupt and challenged anybody to bring up evidence to the contrary.

He said, “As Minister of Transportation, I run an open and transparent system. I believe in name and shame.

“What name and shame does is, if you name and shame those of them who don’t have conscience they won’t come to public functions.

“I do have conscience. In fact, it was the word corruption that brought me to this occasion because I wanted to see who will get up and say to me, ‘this is evidence that you are corrupt.’

“We went to court against the Rivers State government on their allegation of corruption against me. The Court of Appeal said, produce that document that found this man (Amaechi) guilty of those crimes and up till today he (Wike) has not produced it.”

Earlier, in his speech the Attorney General and Minister of Justice  Abubakar Malami, said, “ As you are all aware, President Buhari made fighting corruption one of the pillars of this administration’s policy. Since assuming office, every effort has been made to build on and expand on what was initiated by previous governments. Amongst these key priorities is the need to recover stolen funds and to pay back to the Nigerian society what they have lost to corruption.

“You may recall that during the London Anti-Corruption Summit, President Muhammadu Buhari presented a country statement on actions that would be implemented by the government of Nigeria on anti-corruption reforms.”