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Nigeria’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party that touts itself as Africa’s biggest party split down the middle today after eight governors and former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, walked out of the party’s convention ground in Abuja.

Hours later, the splinter-group held a mini convention at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre and announced officers for its version of PDP, with a former chairman, Abubakar Baraje, from Kwara state emerging the new chairman.

Curiously, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former governor of Osun State, who was removed by the President Goodluck Jonathan faction as secretary and who has had a long-running legal battle with the Jonathan faction, is the new secretary of the new faction of PDP.

The governors who abandoned the PDP umbrella today are, Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa state, Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa state, Rabiu Kwankwaso of kano state and Ahmed of Kwara State.

The governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi who was expelled by the party, because of the long-running feud with the Jonathans, was also among the new PDP group.

The election of the new officers was at the parallel convention held at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua center in Abuja.

Also elected today as Deputy Chairman was Dr. Sam Jaja, while Binta Kaoje was elected as woman leader.

The mini convention began shortly after the walkout delegates abandoned the party’s special convention, which was being held at the Eagle Square with President Goodluck Jonathan in attendance.

At the other PDP convention, President Goodluck Jonathan promised that the party will continue to provide good governance for Nigeria, adding that the party is unshakeable by any opposition party.

He said the party is not threatened by any opposition mushroom party springing up ahead of the 2015 elections, either registered or yet to be registered, as he urged members of the party to join hands with the administration to chat a new course.

PDP will “become a stronger and renewed party” which will bring hope for the people of Nigeria, he said.

“It is very clear, we are the party destined to take Nigeria to greatness; we are the party that holds the interest of Nigeria dearly at heart.

“We do not pursue divisible policies; we do not preach hate; we reject violence; we reject killings; we recognise Nigeria as one indivisible entity as we deplore ethnic distrust among our great people, for we are one people under one umbrella in this republic”.

He added that the party will restore the hopes and ambitions of Nigerians, not minding class or status, giving hope to the hopeless.

“In the PDP, we fight against poverty, not the poor. In the PDP, we attack destitution, not the destitute. In the PDP, we believe in the tenets of democracy and development; this is who we are.”

He maintained that the ruling party is ready to protect and preserve the unity of the country and fight against those who threaten the nation in whatever circumstance.

•Credit (text only): PM News. Photo shows Atiku.


Source News Express

Posted 31/08/2013 6:35:28 PM

Nigerian Governor spends N1 billion (about $6.5 million) on school in neighbouring country

By News Express, www.newsexpressngr.com, on 28/08/2013

At a time when Nigeria’s university teachers are on strike over poor funding of the country’s public universities, a governor of one of the country’s 36 states has confirmed spending over N1 billion (about $6.5 million) on a tertiary school in a neighbouring country.

Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso of north-western Kano State said the princely sum was expended in building students’ hostel, multipurpose hall, kitchen, staff quarters, clinic and wall fencing of Kano/Niger Republic Bilingual College in Niamey.

“Speaking during a farewell ceremony for the first batch of 101 secondary school students to Niger Republic, he said the money was the counterpart fund of the state for the joint project,” reports Daily Trust. “The state government, according to a statement by the governor’s media aide, Mallam Halilu Dantiye, provided a bus, a pick up van, two sets of uniforms for each of the pioneer 200 students and English teachers.

“He added that the Nigerien authorities provided land for the project, in addition to running the school. The idea for the establishment of the college, according to Governor Kwankwaso, was to consolidate bilateral relations between the state and the Niger Republic, expose Kano children to French language as well as create unlimited opportunities for them in French and English speaking countries.”

Governor Kwankwaso was quoted as saying: “With an annual increment of 200 students, 100 from Niger and 100 from Kano, it is our vision that in six years when the college will graduate these very students, they will have a population of 1,400 students.”

He said that the governments of Kano and Niger Republic would take full responsibility for the scholarship of the students.
 In his remarks, President Muhammadou Yousoufou of Niger Republic, represented by the country’s Minister of Education, Madam Maryam Alhadji Ibrahim, said the partnership will bring about greater unity and reinforce the existing relationship between his country and Nigeria.

News Express reports that Nigeria’s public universities have been shut since July 1 when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) embarked on an indefinite strike in a yet-to-succeed bid to force the country’s rulers to adequately fund the universities.

  

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•The Law Is Anti Islam – Senator Sani Yarima
In the ongoing constitution amendment the Nigerian Senate yesterday pegged the marriage age at 18. A development many have welcomed with a sigh of relieve.
But Senator Sani Yerima former Zamfara State Governor protested against the age limit immediately after the vote had been passed and said that the law was anti Islam.
 "Under Islamic law, any woman that is married is of age and if you say 18 years you are going against Islamic law," said Yarima.
It should be recalled that Senator Sani Yarima was reported in 2010 to have married a 13-year-old girl from Egypt whose father was said to be his driver.
Laws like this should be enacted to protect vulnerable groups like women, physical challenged people and children.

Read more here: http://news.yahoo.com/nigeria-sudans-bashir-plays-cat-mouse-international-court-131356721.html

Less than halfway through a two-day HIV/AIDS summit in Nigeria, Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir flew home as activists launched legal action to force his arrest for charges at the International Criminal Court.

Nigeria is a party to the ICC and as such has a legal obligation to arrest Mr. Bashir, who is accused of ten counts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity linked to the violence in Sudan’s western Darfur province.

But instead of detaining him, Nigeria’s government laid out a red carpet welcome with full military honors for Bashir when he arrived late Sunday. The Sudanese leader departed Nigeria Monday night.

Reuben Abati, spokesman for Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, said that Bashir was free to come and go because Nigeria respected an order from the African Union in 2009 that its members should ignore ICC arrest warrants.

RECOMMENDED: Think you know Africa? Take our geography quiz.

The debacle illustrates again the relative powerlessness of the young world court, which has no police force to apprehend those persons it indicts, but must rely on signatory nations to deliver them for trial.

Nigeria’s refusal to arrest Bashir strengthens impunity for those accused of the world’s worst crimes, and is a slap in the face for those who continue to suffer the effects of war, the Nigerian Coalition for the ICC said in a statement.

“The victims of the conflict in Darfur have suffered without justice for more than a decade due in part to the reluctance of some ICC member states to abide by the arrest warrants for Bashir and other ICC suspects in Darfur,” said Chinonye Obiagwu and Theodora Oby Nwankwo, the coalition’s directors.

“If Nigeria and other members of the ICC are committed to ending impunity in the world, they must not allow ICC arrest warrants to go unenforced, and at the very least must not accept visits from suspects like Bashir.”

Rights activists including Mr. Obiagwu and Ms. Nwankwo filed a suit early Monday in the Federal High Court in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, seeking the arrest of the Sudanese president.

Before the application could be heard, however, Bashir left. A diplomat at Sudan’s embassy in Abuja told The Associated Press that the president’s hasty departure had “nothing to do with” the court application.

Several African nations – South Africa, Malawi, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, and Central Africa Republic – have said that they would act on the international arrest warrant should the Sudanese president enter their territory.

But there are still many countries that would rather side with the African Union position of non-cooperation with the court than carry out its orders.

Human Rights Watch said that Nigeria now had the “shameful distinction” of being the first country in West Africa to welcome Bashir.

Britain, one of Nigeria’s largest trading partners and a significant donor, said it was “disappointed” that the Sudanese president had been hosted in Abuja.

“This undermines the work of the ICC and sends the victims a dismaying message that the accountability they are waiting for will be delayed further,” Mark Simmonds, Britain’s Secretary for Africa, said in a statement.

Bashir was indicted in 2009, the first sitting president the ICC’s prosecutors targeted. Two arrest warrants have been issued against him, in 2009 and 2010.

He is among 30 people – all Africans – indicted by the world court, which is facing increasing pressure to widen its prosecutions beyond the continent.

William Ruto, Kenya’s deputy president, who faces charges linked to his alleged role in organizing election violence in his country in 2008, was told Monday that his case must go ahead at The Hague, where the ICC is located.

Judges ruled against Mr. Ruto’s request to transfer part of the hearings to Kenya or neighboring Tanzania. Several witnesses against Ruto have disappeared, Fatou Bensouda, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, said in court Monday.

HEART ATTACKS AND WATER !
 How many folks do you know who say they don't want to drink anything before going to bed because they'll have to get up during the night.
 Heart Attack and Water - I never knew all of this ! Interesting.......
 Something else I didn't know ... I asked my Doctor why people need to urinate so much at night time. Answer from my Cardiac Doctor - Gravity holds water in the lower part of your body when you are upright (legs swell). When you lie down and the lower body (legs and etc) seeks level with the kidneys, it is then that the kidneys remove the water because it is easier. This then ties in with the last statement!
 I knew you need your minimum water to help flush the toxins out of your body, but this was news to me. Correct time to drink water...
 Very Important. From A Cardiac Specialist!
 Drinking water at a certain time maximizes its effectiveness on the body
 2 glasses of water after waking up - helps activate internal organs
 1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal - helps digestion
 1 glass of water before taking a bath - helps lower blood pressure
 1 glass of water before going to bed - avoids stroke or heart attack
 I can also add to this... My Physician told me that water at bed time will also help prevent night time leg cramps. Your leg muscles are seeking hydration when they cramp and wake you up with a Charlie Horse.
 Mayo Clinic Aspirin Dr. Virend Somers, is a Cardiologist from the Mayo Clinic, who is lead author of the report in the July 29, 2008 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
 Most heart attacks occur in the day, generally between 6 A.M. and noon. Having one during the night, when the heart should be most at rest, means that something unusual happened. Somers and his colleagues have been working for a decade to show that sleep apnea is to blame.
 1. If you take an aspirin or a baby aspirin once a day, take it at night.
 The reason: Aspirin has a 24-hour "half-life"; therefore, if most heart attacks happen in the wee hours of the morning, the Aspirin would be strongest in your system.
 2. FYI, Aspirin lasts a really long time in your medicine chest, for years, (when it gets old, it smells like vinegar).
 Please read on...
 Something that we can do to help ourselves - nice to know. Bayer is making crystal aspirin to dissolve instantly on the tongue.
 They work much faster than the tablets.
 Why keep Aspirin by your bedside? It's about Heart Attacks.
 There are other symptoms of a heart attack, besides the pain on the left arm. One must also be aware of an intense pain on the chin, as well as nausea and lots of sweating; however, these symptoms may also occur less frequently.
 Note: There may be NO pain in the chest during a heart attack.
 The majority of people (about 60%) who had a heart attack during their sleep did not wake up. However, if it occurs, the chest pain may wake you up from your deep sleep.
 If that happens, immediately dissolve two aspirins in your mouth and swallow them with a bit of water.
 Afterwards: - Call 911. - Phone a neighbor or a family member who lives very close by.- Say "heart attack!" - Say that you have taken 2 Aspirins.
 Take a seat on a chair or sofa near the front door, and wait for their arrival and ...DO NOT LIE DOWN!
 A Cardiologist has stated that if each person after receiving this e-mail, sends it to 10 people, probably one life could be saved!
 I have already shared this information. What about you?
 Do forward this message. It may save lives!
 "Life is a one time gift"

An Ikeja High Court on Friday was told that Cynthia Osokogu (24) who was allegedly murdered in a hotel room last year July was chained and strangled to death by her killers.

A Police Investigative Officer attached to Area E Command of Festac Town Police Station, Mr. Joseph Edo, on Friday narrated the incident while testifying before Justice Olabisi Akinlade.

Cynthia was allegedly drugged and murdered in Cosmilla Hotel, Festac Town, in Lagos by Okwumo Nwabufor and Olisaeloka Ezike, who are charged on issues bordering on conspiracy to commit murder, murder and felony.

Also, Osita Orji, a Pharmacist who sold the Rophynol drug to the alleged murderers, is accused of reckless and negligent act while Nonso Ezike, who pawned the deceased’s Blackberry phone, is charged with possession of stolen property.

Mr. Edo, led in evidence by the Lagos State Attorney- General and Commissioner for Justice,Mr Ade Ipaye, informed the court that the first defendant, Nwabufor, while being interrogated at the police station verbally attacked the second defendant, Olisaeloka Ezike, that he should have confessed to the police that he (Ezike) chained and strangled the late Cynthia to death”.

His words: “Nwabufor confronted Ezike at the station saying why did you bring me to the police to arrest me in my house? Why didn’t you tell them that you strangled the deceased to death?”.

The police officer further said Nwabufor, in his confession, said Ezike after killing the Cynthia, placed her international passport on her chest and took several photographs of the deceased with his Blackberry phone.

Speaking further, the inspector said Ezike subsequently sent the pictures of the deceased to Nwabufor’s laptop. He further disclosed that investigation revealed that the defendants grinded a Rophynol drug into a powder substances,mixed it with water and injected it into a Ribena pack which later was given to late Cynthia to drink.

He also said the police recovered some properties of late cynthia at Ezike’s residence. The properties recovered were tendered as exhibit before the court.

The properties include two international passports belonging to late Cynthia, a driver’s license also in the deceased’s name, a sex toy vibrator, jewelries, a pair of shoes and two bags.

Other properties recovered include a laptop, two phones, sun glasses and chain alleged to belong to the suspected killers. The police officer said the defendants were arrested, interrogated and further charged to the court of law. Justice Akinlade further adjourned the matter till July 5th, 2013 for continuation of trial.
http://nationalmirroronline.net/new/how-cynthia-was-chained-strangled-police/

Ex-deputy gov declared wanted over N130m fraud


… Our case, by Ojikutu family

By CHIOMA IGBOKWE

The Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Ikoyi, Lagos has declared a former deputy governor of Lagos State, Alhaja Sinatu Ojikutu, 67, wanted for allegedly defrauding  her victim of  N130 million. She was said to have jumped bail and sneaked into the United States (U.S.) when she could not refund the said amount.

According to police source, the unit acted upon a petition which alleged that  in September, 2011, Ojikutu, and her son, Samson, conspired and sold a parcel of land known as Plot 24, Block 4 situated at Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos for N130 million.

“To convince her client, Alhaja Ojikutu was alleged to have procured an affidavit of support to back her claim, a police crime extract and a publication in a newspaper edition of October 18, 2011 as evidence to show that she lost the original documents of title to the land.  The petitioner believed her because of her personality as the former deputy governor of Lagos State. Convinced, the petitioner paid the said amount into the Union Bank account of Alhaja Ojikutu.”

Trouble started when the buyer commenced development on the land and was on the verge of completion when the real owner of the land surfaced.  “It was discovered that the land Alhaja Ojikutu sold does not belong to her or her family anymore. According to investigation, the said land which originally belongs to her husband, the late Samson Adebisi Ojikutu, who died in 2008, was sold in 1995. Investigation also revealed that Alhaja Ojikutu was physically present as a witness and also appended her signature before the land was sold.

“Alhaja Ojikutu perpetrated the crime by alleging that the original Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to the property was missing and swore to an affidavit which enabled her to obtain a police report and a Memorandum of Loss.  She also allegedly put up an advert in newspapers that the original C of O was lost, whereas the original C of O was with the Hallmark Homes, the buyer of the property,” the source said.

Confirming the story, the Commissioner of Police, SFU, Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin, said that her son, Samson Adebisi Ojikutu Jnr, who is currently in USA, was also allegedly indicted in the fraudulent transaction. “Both were parties to the sale of the land and both signed the agreement given to the complainant and obtained N130 million from him. Shortly after her arrest, Alhaja Ojikutu  allegedly confessed that it was a genuine mistake of plot identification.  She refunded N50 million to the complainant and promised to refund the balance as soon as she disposed her two properties she put up for sale.  She also gave an undertaking and payment plan which was drawn from September, 2012 and was to terminate by November 2012, but was alleged to have defaulted.

“It appears that she is not willing to abide by the terms of repayment.  She allegedly jumped police bail and had been elusive.  Frantic efforts have been made to re-arrest her which proved abortive. Anybody with useful information regarding her where about should report to SFU located at 13 Milverton Road, Ikoyi.”
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/ex-deputy-gov-declared-wanted-over-n130m-fraud/

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Sixteen pregnant ladies rescued from baby factory in Abia


From CHUKS ONUOHA, Umuahia

Sixteen young ladies whose ages range from 17 to 37 were paraded by the State Security Service (SSS) in Abia State. The ladies were arrested in the early hours of  yesterday from a baby factory where they were waiting to deliver and sell their children to prospective buyers.

Their loud cries pervaded the hall as almost all of them broke down at the same time, weeping profusely as they struggled to hide their faces from the cameras and newsmen.

The Director of SSS, Mr Mathew Obodoechi, who briefed the press, said the victims were usually introduced to the centre by their close relatives and friends, including a mother who did not want her husband to know of the pregnancy of her daughter.

“It is unfortunate that some persons hide under the cover of Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to perpetrate various forms of illegal activities,” Obodoechi lamented, urging members of the public to desist from encouraging pregnant ladies to go to baby factories for whatever reason, whether financial or otherwise.

He warned that those who hide under NGOs to perpetrate modern day slave trade should  abstain from such illegalities as security agencies would stop at nothing to ensure that they were apprehended and made to face the law.

“Members of the public are urged once more to continue to give useful information on criminal elements in their midst to security agents for public good,” he said.
http://sunnewsonline.com/new/national/sixteen-pregnant-ladies-rescued-from-baby-factory-in-abia/#!prettyPhoto

The 16 pregnant ladies  were arrested  at No. 3 Anyamele Street, off Nicholas Avenue, in Umungasi area of Aba, in a  building that housed one Non-Governmental Organization called  Cross Foundation International, the director said.

Obodoechi said further that the 16 girls were kept in a very unhygienic environment.  Those found in the home were between 17 and 37 years and were at various stages of pregnancy. The foundation, which keeps pregnant ladies who upon delivery are given paltry sum of N50,000.00 and sent away while their babies are sold to people from different parts of the country is run by one Dr Hyacinth, who the command arrested this morning .

Speaking to newsmen while he was being paraded , Dr Hyacinth said his foundation was duly registered with Ministry of Women Affairs and he did not see himself as somebody doing anything illegal. He said the first time he was arrested in 2004 by the police, he went to court against the police and NAPTIP and was  awarded N4million damages, which he said the authorities were yet to pay to him.