Woman kidnapped in Delta found dead

Woman kidnapped in Delta found dead




Amitaye, mother-of-three, was worked in the Commercial Department of the Warri Bureau of The Pointer newspapers. According to a family member, Amitaye was kidnapped on her way to Warri, along Eku road in Ethiope East Local Government Area in a Hilux van.

Five gunmen were reported to have attacked them, demanding for money on the spot. Unable to meet their request, Amitaye was allegedly dragged out of the Hilux van into the bush, leaving her driver behind, Nigerian Tribune reports.

After the kidnappers left, the driver raised an alarm and made contacts with the woman’s husband and other family members.

Nigerian Tribune gathered that her corpse was found in the bush. A spokesperson for the family said:

“Patricia has been sick, but she was getting better before this unfortunate incident. I am sure that her blood pressure rose from the shock and the manner in which she was dragged into the bush by the kidnappers. Her lifeless body was recovered after being abandoned by the kidnappers in the bush. She died in pains."


When Nigerian Tribune visited the home of the deceased on Friday, sympathizers were seen discussing in hush tones, while the deceased’s husband could hardly mutter a word as he was still in shock over the tragedy.

INEC Deploys 6 Additional Commissioners For Imo Rerun

INEC Deploys 6 Additional Commissioners For Imo Rerun


The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in a bid to conduct a free and fair election in Imo State this weekend, has deployed six additional staff of the commission for the re-run election in the state.

This was disclosed by the state resident electoral commissioner, Dr Gabriel Ada, to newsmen in Owerri yesterday.

According to the REC, six additional commissioners of INEC would complement his effort in the conduct of the election.

Ada revealed that three RECs and three national electoral commissioners have been drafted to conduct the scheduled election, adding that the number of electorate put at 118,803 on Wednesday has been reduced to 113,803.

Meanwhile, the national leadership of the APC has urged INEC to declare its candidate, Governor Rochas Okorocha the winner of the April 11 election in the state, following his overwhelming win in 20 local government areas out of the 27 in the state.

South East zonal chairman of the party, Emma Onyeukwu, made the call during a press conference in Owerri, in reaction to the call by the PDP to outrightly cancel the April 11 governorship election.

PDP: We’re regrouping to takeover power in 2019

PDP: We’re regrouping to takeover power in 2019


The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has vowed to bounce back to power in 2019.

National Chairman Adamu Mu’azu, who yesterday spoke to reporters in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, he was in Taraba  to thank Governor Danbaba Suntai and his deputy Abubakar Sani Danladi for their efforts in the 2015 general elections.

He said the party, like President Goodluck Jonathan, has accepted defeat in good faith, “but we shall work very hard, remain resolute, restructure and reposition the PDP and regroup members to regain our position of the ruling party in the next general election”.

Mu’azu described PDP members defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the party’s loss as “untrue democrats and insincere politicians”.

He said APC was “dragging” with PDP to take everything and make Nigeria a one-party nation. He advised the APC to give room for credible opposition, without suppressing the will of the people in its bid to be in control everywhere because that, according to Muazu, would not augur well for the nation’s democratic experience.

He said: “APC is propagating negatively; they want to take everything, but we have resolved, as a party, to restructure and take over power in the next general elections.

“Whatever it takes, we have resolved to ensure that we forgive one another, resolve our differences and forge ahead, with efforts to winning elections come 2019.

“It is, however, very unfortunate that our supporters who are desperate to defect to APC have become confused because they have been rejected by the APC. I don’t know what would become of their faith, because they now have no roof; they are neither in PDP nor in APC.”

The PDP boss said its candidate in Taraba, Darius Dickson Ishaku, is too credibly qualified to lose the election.

“We are here to encourage our supporters to continue their loyalty and good work for our great party. Everybody knows that Taraba is for PDP and PDP is for Taraba. We have been in charge in Taraba for the past 16 years.”

Mu’azu accused the APC in the state of “negative media propaganda” against the PDP.

He praised the “courage and magnanimity” of President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat to General Muhammadu Buhari, as he urged APC supporters to also learn how to concede defeat when they lose

Nigeria to Drag Zulu King, Alleged Instigator of SA's Xenophobic Attacks to Face ICC

Nigeria to Drag Zulu King, Alleged Instigator of SA's Xenophobic Attacks to Face ICC


The Nigerian Senate yesterday hinted on formally filing a criminal case at the International Criminal Court, ICC, Hague, against the Zulu King, Goodwin Zwelithini, who was believed to have instigated the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa through inciting comments, Vanguard reports.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Musiliu Obanikoro, summoned South African High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Lulu Mnguni “to register Nigeria’s protest over the ongoing xenophobic attacks against fellow Africans in South Africa.”

“South Africa needed to take concrete steps to quell the unrest and bring the culprits involved to book to act as a deterrent and prevent further violence," he said.

The senate also urged President Goodluck Jonathan to recall Nigeria’s High Commissioner to South Africa for further consultations.

A formal protest to the South African government, demanding compensation for victims of the attacks, was also lodged.

Workers slam labour unions for alleged partisanship

Workers slam labour unions for alleged partisanship




Some workers in Ekiti State are unhappy with labour leaders for allegedly abandoning their primary duties of agitating for their welfare and dabbling in politics.

They slammed the state chapters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC),the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) for joining drivers’ unions and hoodlums to stage protests and block roads last Friday in a bid to stop the All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers  from coming to the state.

Acting under the aegis of Ekiti Enlightened Workers’ Forum, the aggrieved workers in a statement yesterday accused the labour leaders of pursuing personal gains.

They wondered if labour had become an appendage of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, saying the issue of workers’ welfare rather than taking sides with political gladiators should concern the unionists.

The workers urged the union leaders to steer clear of politics, especially the raging impeachment crisis and face their welfare, which they said has affected their morale.

According to them, “workers’ interest must not be traded on the altar of politics, labour leaders have turned trade unionism into a lucrative business venture when civil servants and other workers are wallowing in poverty”.

Condemning the labour union leaders’ participation in a pro-government protest under the guise of March for Peace, the aggrieved workers described their action “as labour’s shameful parade”.

They urged NLC, TUC and JNC leaders to agitate for the payment of September salaries, maintaining that the government has since received September allocation, hence payment should not be delayed.

Other demands of the aggrieved workers include payment of 2014 leave bonus, remittance of various deductions, such as cooperative, check-off dues and loans to banks made from workers’ July to September 2014 salaries.

The workers also called on the union leaders to “do something” on the 2013/2014 promotion exercise, payment of backlog of arrears of pensions and gratuities to retirees, allocation of funds to Housing/Vehicle Loan Boards.

They issued a statement. which reads: “It should be stressed that workers rely on ‘sharp-sharp’ loans and rather for the leadership of Labour to demand for improved welfare, the so-called labour leaders are conniving with the government to introduce another form of ‘sharp-sharp’ loans to workers.

“The burden resulting from interests on these loans is too hard for workers to bear! Government is a continuum, as soon as a government is sworn in, such government acquires assets and liabilities of the previous administration.

“The above matters are issues which the leadership of labour is expected to pursue but the so-called self-imposed/anointed leaders in NLC, TUC and JNC have vowed not to pursue because of their personal gains.

“At any rate, our present state of labour ineptitude may remain with us for a long time to come, unless the good workers of this state take some drastic steps to stem this unfortunate tide.”

Petrol subsidy booby trap for Buhari in Budget 2015

Petrol subsidy booby trap for Buhari in Budget 2015


The stage seems set for a major controversy in the polity, with the passage yesterday of the 2015 Appropriation Bill.

There is no provision for fuel subsidy in the N4,493,363,957,158 estimates approved by the House of Representatives.

The budget has a recurrent (non-debt) expenditure of N2.607, 132,491,708.

Last year, N971.1b was spent on fuel subsidy – same as in 2013.

The N701, 415,465,449 capital expenditure was broken into N556, 995,465,449 for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) and N144, 420,009,000 for statutory transfer.

The budget is N67,433,759,158 higher than the N425,425,930,000 stated in the report that was laid on Wednesday by the joint Chairman, Committees on Appropriations and Finance, John Enoh.

Speaking on the removal of fuel subsidy, Legislative Budget and Research Committee Chairman Opeyemi Bamidele said it was a booby trap set for the in-coming Muhammadu Buhari administration.

According to him, the silence over the removal is capable of setting off the new government on a wrong footing.

He said: “With the withdrawal of fuel subsidy, Nigerians must be educated, else they would be sending Nigerians a wrong signal capable of creating the impression that APC either deceived Nigerians to get their votes or had reneged on its electoral promise as a progressive party.

“The truth and reality of the situation is that the outgoing PDP administration has, through the 2015 budget, removed oil subsidy and it must be made to accept responsibility for it rather than for the incoming APC administration to bask along in the euphoria of having won an election without realizing the booby trap into which they and the Nigerian people are walking into”.

While expressing fears over possible reaction from Nigerians, Bamidele said it was imperative for Nigerians to know who to hold responsible for the development.

“For the record and for posterity purposes, I am opposed to this sudden removal of fuel subsidy and I implore Nigerian patriots to be aware.

“The political economy of this development and its grave implications must not be lost on all stakeholders. This is more so when a new ruling party is coming into power by May 29, 2015.

“To my mind, this is definitely a booby trap for the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and I hope the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the incoming ruling party will understand the full implications of this and take immediate steps to let Nigerians know where it stands on this matter.

“This is a serious development and a defining moment that calls for the attention of all well meaning Nigerians at home and abroad.

“This is the first time in the last 16 years of our civilian rule that a new political party will be taking over to form a government.

“If care is not taken, this matter is capable of making the incoming government morally dead on arrival, except the issues are promptly dealt with in a way that the critical stakeholders, including the civil society, corporate Nigeria, political class and the generality of Nigerians will know the true state of affairs,” he warned.

The budget that scaled third reading after it was passed at the Committee on Supply, chaired by Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, was raised by N135.4b to N4.493trn from the N4,357,960,000,000 proposed by the Executive in November 2014.

Niger Delta Development Commission’s allocation was raised from N45.780b to N46.720b; Universal Basic Education’s allocation went up from N67.3b to N68.380b; National Assembly’s allocation was raised from N115b to N120b; Public Complaint Commission’s allocation climbed up from N2b to N4b and National Human Right Commission’s allocation was raised from N1.2b to N1.516b.

The breakdown of the final amount passed showed that N375.616b is for statutory transfer while the N953.620b for debt service was N894,610,009,000 for domestic debt and N59,010,009,009 for foreign debt.

Under recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, Education got the highest allocation of N392,363,784,654, followed by Defence/MOD/Army/Air Force/Navy with N338,697,219,431. Police formation and Commands got N303,822,224,611 and N237,075,742,847 is for Health sector.

In the budget, N69,423,427,479 was allocated to Youth Development; N62,226, 771,999 for office of the National Security Adviser; N58,247,429,975 (Petroleum Resources); N48, 389,942,264 (Secretary to the Government of the Federation); N41,649,382,166 (Foreign Affairs) and N31,869,020,717 (Agriculture and Rural Development).

Science and Technology got N25,593,880,816; Works (N25,173,916,543); Information (N23,682,420,241); Presidency (N20,085,865,120); Tourism, Culture and National Orientation (N18,018,478,935); Environment (N15,599,334,341); Trade and Investment (N10,941,859,480) and while Communication Technology (N10,592,048,381).

From the N13,965,664,092 approved for the eight Federal Executive bodies, N5,293,800,054 is for the National Population Commission; N1,935,767,344 is for the Code of Conduct Bureau; N493,656,088 (Code of Conduct Tribunal); N2,207,213,456 (Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission); N1,125,005,114 (Federal Civil Service Commission); N740,477,185 (Police Service Commission) and N2,167,931,068 (Federal Character Commission).

Also, N354,335,011,023 was approved for Service Wide Votes with N20.170b allocated to Operation Zaman Lafiya; N22b is for operations – Internal for the Armed Forces; N9.6b is for payment to Nigerian Army Quick Response Group, including arrears; N5b is for payment of outsourced services; N2.3b is for entitlements of former Presidents/Heads of State and Vice Presidents/Chiefs of General Staff; N5.5b is for Employees Compensation Act – Employees Compensation Fund; N17.5b is for General Elections logistics support; N17,397,993,277 is for Contingency; N6b is for country’s contribution to West African Examinations Council (WAEC); N4.5b is for assessed contribution to African Union and others; N6,099,600,000 is for margin for increases in costs; N9.5b is for external financial obligations; N3,099,600,000 is for recurrent adjustment; N38,987,017,746 is for public service wage adjustment for MDAs (including arrears of promotion and salary increases) while N11.755b is for improved remuneration package for Nigerian police.

Troops get mandate to catch Shekau

Troops get mandate to catch Shekau


Troops have got another mandate to catch Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau alive.

Shekau is believed to have relocated from his bunker before the troops reclaimed Gwoza from the insurgents, a report has said.

The military is said to be probing the “sudden disappearance of Shekau”, who has remained incommunicado.

According to PRNigeria, the search for Shekau followed the recovery of key towns and hideouts of Boko Haram.

The PRNigeria is the intelligence source through which the military and security agencies release strategic information.

The source said: “With peace and quiet from the usually vociferous Abubakar Shekau, there are speculations within the security circles that the group may have been so disarrayed that it no longer has the luxury of issuing threats.

”A military source told PRNigeria that since the declaration of the final push against the insurgents in the middle of February, and directive to clear all terrorists’ camps before May 29 handover date, Nigerian troops have been on the lookout for Shekau and other commanders of Boko Haram.

”The guy simply disappeared from the radar and suddenly vanished. We wish we can catch him alive.”

Another military source, who spoke in confidence, said: “From intelligence report, Shekau has relocated from his bunker in Gwoza probably to Sambisa Forest or any other border town.

“Nobody, not even some of the arrested insurgents, could locate of get in touch with him now. This is why troops have been placed on red alert to arrest whoever is Shekau alive.

Troops yesterday retreated from Boko Haram’s last known stronghold – the Sambisa Forest – concerned the area was booby-trapped after three pro- vigilantes were killed by a landmine. A soldier is also believed to have been killed.

A vigilante and a security source both confirmed the pullback from the Sambisa forest, a day after an offensive aimed at rooting out the insurgents.

“The soldiers have retreated to Bama because of mines. They had been on the road but that made them vulnerable, so they moved to the bush but there are mines planted there (too),” one soldier, who did not want to be named, told Reuters.

The Sambisa forest, a former colonial game reserve, is about 100 km (60 miles) from the village of Chibok, from where Boko Haram abducted more than 200 secondary school girls a year ago.

Intelligence officials believed they were being held in the forest, but U.S. reconnaissance drones failed to locate them.

“Three of our boys were killed by a landmine as we progressed into Sambisa. We’ve suspended going farther,” Muhammad Mungonu, a member of a pro-government vigilante, told Reuters.

The militants controlled an area the size of Belgium at the start of the year, but have since lost much of that ground after a concerted push by militaries from Nigeria and neighbors Chad, Niger and Cameroon in the past two months.

Chadian military source said a joint military operation involving armies from Niger and Cameroon was expected to begin to encircle the Sambisa forest next week. Chadians will go in from the Cameroonian border where they have been massing troops.

“Boko Haram are in large numbers in Sambisa,” said the vigilante, who requested anonymity for security reasons as he was part of the operation.

“All their fighters who were pushed out of Bama, Dikwa, Gwoza and Damboa (in Borno state) all moved to Boko Haram camps in Sambisa,” he added.
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