‘No amount of probes on Jonathan will establish that Jonathan was a corrupt leader’ – Babatope

 A former Minister of Transport, Ebenezer Babatope
has made his views known on the President
Muhammadu Buhari’s plan to probe the
administration of his predecessor, Goodluck
Jonathan.
Speaking in an interview with The Punch, Babatope
enthused that Jonathan is not the corrupt person he
is being made to look like.
Babatope, who is also a member of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BoT) also
posited that the PDP was not against the president’s
probe but were only against bias and witch hunting.

 The Peoples Democratic Party has said the probes
being carried out by the President Muhammadu
Buhari-led administration are selective. Why are
they?

Any government is free to transact any business it
wants to transact. So, Buhari is correct to say he
wants to probe. But all that we are saying is that he
must ensure that the probe is not coloured with
injustice, bias and unfairness. Once he can do that,
let him go ahead. He has not unfolded the
programme; when he unfolds the programme, we
will know.
If he has decided to probe only the last
administration, does it have any shortcomings?
He has the choice on whoever he wants to probe. If
he wants to limit it to the Jonathan administration,
he has the freedom. But what is important is that the
probe must be free and must not be done against
those that they want to persecute or humiliate
because of their political affiliation. Nobody can
question whatever method Buhari’s administration
wants to use. It is his government and it is in his best
interest to ensure that his government meets the
yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians. If he says he
wants to probe the administration of GEJ (Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan) alone, that is good for him but all we
know is that he must endeavour not to turn the
probe into a kind of witch-hunt. This is why we are
appealing that he should allow justice and fair play to
characterise all the exercises that will be carried out
on the probe. I don’t care who wants to probe; he can
probe anybody he wants to probe but at the end of
the day, he should be careful not to endanger or
destroy the integrity of innocent people.
With what you have seen or heard so far, does
the campaign look like a witch-hunt?

I cannot substantiate the witch-hunt claim now, even
though the civil servants that were said to be having
their property confiscated by the government have
raised their voices to say they did not do (commit)
anything (crime). I want President Buhari to ensure
that the security agencies do very thorough job, and
should not do a hush-hush job that will amount to
nothing but witch-hunt. We are waiting for when they
will start to see or hear the names of those who are
now being called looters. As it is now, almost every
Nigerian is a looter unless you are proven not to be a
looter.
Would you have called for the extension of the
probe to the administrations before Jonathan’s,
especially those widely believed to have been
very corrupt, if you had your way?
I am not a supporter, really, of what is called probe.
Our leader, my benefactor, the late Chief Obafemi
Awolowo, warned against a country getting itself into
the mess of probing; that there would be no end to
it. That was why he said the current administration
should erect a thick wall between the events of the
past administration and the present. That he would
rather strengthen the Nigeria Police to ensure that it
is mobile enough to do its job properly; to arrest and
prosecute. All we are saying is that the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent
National Electoral Commission, the Police and all
other agencies who are to help the government must
do their job well, bring culprits to book and ensure
that they bring those guilty of looting to book.
But is it appropriate for a new government not to
check the books of the previous administration,
especially when government coffers have been
looted?
At the end of the day, I hope that this probe on
corruption will not end up being a mere illusion;
when you say somebody has looted but establishing
the looting is very difficult. Nobody is saying it is not
good for the country to fight corruption, all we are
saying – and I want to repeat it – is that in
establishing new morality for Nigeria, we must not
cast away justice and fair play in the manner we
investigate all the cases. If we do so, we will subject
Nigeria to a state of irredeemable despair, and that
will be very bad for us.
What then is your take on Prof. Ben Nwabueze’s
stance that certain administrations recorded
corruption of threatening magnitude should be
probed, especially those led by former military
Heads of State, Ibrahim Babangida, Abdulsalami
Abubakar and former President Olusegun
Obasanjo?
I am very convinced that no amount of probes on
Jonathan will establish that Jonathan was a corrupt
leader. He was not a corrupt leader. That is why I am
proposing fairness and justice in this probe. Jonathan
is not going to be found guilty of anything; I am
telling you the fact. And if he (Buhari) says he wants
to extend his probe to other regimes, it will be
ridiculous. That was why Awolowo said any nation that
goes deep into the ‘probe-probe business;’ that
nation is jeopardising the future of its citizens
because it can never get to an end. That was why
Awolowo said he would erect a thick wall between
the events of the past and of the present. All we
need to do is to strengthen the Police. That is all.
If you think Jonathan was not corrupt and will be
off the hook, would you admit that he had people
whose activities should be probed around him?
If they are found guilty, they should be brought to
book. But the way it is going; one governor was on
the entourage of President Buhari to America, he
came back and told Nigerians that one minister
(under Jonathan) stole $6bn. This is a ridiculous thing
to say. $6bn! We are talking of stones; we are talking
of hard currency. All these comments are really
making fun of what President Buhari is trying to do.
Let them base their probes on concrete facts. It is
not possible for a minister of any country to steal
N6bn and stash it away in foreign banks. Which bank
can accommodate that? Any of the banks that aid
corruption abroad will be hesitant to take that kind of
money. I know very well that Buhari’s probe will help
us in this country but trying to implicate people who
are innocent will be bad for Nigeria.
The PDP also said President Buhari should look
inwards and prosecute corrupt persons in the All
Progressives Congress and among those close to
him to set an example. Does this really matter?
Of course (it does)! It will be foolhardy for anyone to
think that there are no corrupt people in the APC.
They also ran government (at the state level) either
as Action Congress of Nigeria or any other party
(before their merger). The PDP was right to say ‘place
your binoculars of corruption probe on your men in
the APC.’
Must the probe start from within the APC?
It can start from anywhere but make sure that you do
a thorough job. If the leaders of the APC are said to
be corrupt and you are investigating them, do a
thorough job.

“Mikel Obi the Bench Warmer Snubbed Me In London” Sunday Oliseh says

 It was the reason the player was ignored from
the squad that would face Tanzania next month.
Oliseh told media on Thursday in Abuja that he
had attempted to reach out to the midfielder
ahead of the Community Shield game against
Arsenal but he was rebuffed by the 28-year-old’s
decision not to respond to his phone calls.
“I met with the players when I went to
England on Thursday, the day Chelsea
was coming back from a tour before
they played Arsenal in the Community
Shield,” said Oliseh.

“I put a call through to John Obi
Mikel. I called him four times, the
phone kept ringing. I sent him a text
message, I got no response. I called
[Victor] Moses, the phone rang three
times.
“And I spoke with [Moses], I told him
to concentrate on his game and after
the game he came to my hotel room we
spoke and I made him understand that
my priority is building a new team and
everybody is starting from zero and I
needed to see players playing.
“From there I [made] a trip to
Liverpool there is no secret anymore,
you all know about it [meeting with
Jordan Ibe] everybody knows. I spoke
with other players and their parents
and I never got a call back from Obi
Mikel until I traveled back home. But
just yesterday I saw a missed call on
my phone so at the moment I don’t
know what the situation is now.
“For me everybody is the same and
every player we call answers. To us it’s
not up to me but I want to clear one
thing if anybody wants to play for the
Super Eagles we will all be treated the
same way.
“I even told the players playing at
home that home based player for me
doesn’t exist, if you are a better player
in Nigeria we will play you. The thing
is that I have not spoken to him and I
made efforts but no response, so I
don’t know what to do. You people
should tell me what to do, I don’t
know,”
Oliseh asked.

Dangote Now Worth N3trn As He Gains N15.6bn in 24 Hours...wonder how

  Dangote, who is President of Dangote Group, posted
a $79.2m (N15.6bn) gain from Thursday to Friday,
according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index. He was
one of six billionaires who saw their fortunes
increase in 24 hours to Friday.
Dangote is Africa's richest man, with a net worth of
$15.4bn, according to the Index.
The other three Africans on the Index are South
Africans: Nicky Oppenheimer formerly of the De
Beers diamond company (net worth $6.7bn) suffered
a $27.9m loss between Thursday and Friday; luxury
goods magnate Johann Rupert (net worth $7bn) saw
his money shrink by $87m, and retailing baron
Christo Wiese (net worth $7bn), lost $220m over the
same period.
The weekly drop for the Bloomberg Billionaires
Index, a group that includes Warren Buffett, Bill
Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, was the biggest since
tracking of the expanded list began in September
2014.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index takes measure of
the world's wealthiest people based on market and
economic changes and Bloomberg News reporting.
Each net-worth figure is updated every business day
at 5:30 p.m. in New York and listed in US dollars...

FUTA Senate and Radio building on fire

The Federal University of Technology wasi in chaos yesterday when the Radio and Senate building caught fire yesterday night. cause of fire still not known

Khloe Kardashian is my wife..Any man dating her is wasting his time-Lamar Odom

  Lamar Odom seems to have realized Khloe is his
soulmate and he made a mistake signing those
divorce papers.Speaking to Intouch Magazine, Lamar
who referred to Khloe as his wife said about their
most recent public encounter.....
“We spoke [beforehand]A misunderstanding
between me and my wife became public.
It’s hurtful. That woman is my wife. Without
the ring on my finger. [Even] with her
picture being taken with another man, that
woman is my wife.”“She’s [my] soul mate," I
can’t control it. We’ll never part. I would
never consider myself serious with another
woman. To sum it up, if a man is
attempting to court Khloé, he’s probably
wasting his time.And the weirdest part
about it is because I really know how she
feels about me.”

Ciara replies Future....nasty reply

   Ciara has reacted to Future dissing her for letting her
new man, Russell Wilson take care of their son. She
told CBS
It's been very interesting to hear what a lot
of guys have had to say,' 'I feel like in a
sense it's a bit of a double standard,
because at one point in time when we were
together, I took care of his kids as well - at
a very young time in our relationship.''I was
involved very early in the stage of us
getting to know each other,' she said.
Future had said earlier
'If I was a kid, and my momma had some dude
pushing me, I would've jumped out the stroller and
slapped the sh*t out of him,'

It’s OFFICIAL!!! Rita Ora IS DATING Wiz Khalifah . . . Do You Think It’s MESSED UP Though . . . Cause She USED TO BE FRIENDS . . . With Amber Rose!!!

  
        According to MTO ...Rita Ora and Whiz Khalifa leaving The Nice Guy in Los Angeles . This is the second time this week these two people are out late together....Amber Rose (whiz khalifa's EX) and Rita Ora are friends , do you think she's rocking it .......leave a comment

Hajji Mutazz, ISIS deputy leader, killed in U.S. airstrike in Iraq

      
The White House has confirmed a U.S. airstrike has killed the deputy leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Hazar Rashd Hameed/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

The second-in-command of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group was killed Tuesday by a U.S. airstrike, the White House confirmed Friday.

   "Fadhil Ahmad al-Hayali, also known as Hajji Mutazz ... was killed in a U.S. military airstrike on Aug.18 while travelling in a vehicle near Mosul, Iraq, along with an [ISIS] media operative known as Abu Abdullah," White House spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

Al-Hayali's was directly involved in the jihadist group's "finance, media, operations and logistics," Price said.

According to Rudaw, a Kurdish news agency, Mutazz was an ethnic Turk born in Tal Afar, northern Iraq. He was an army commander under late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and joined the anti-U.S. insurgency after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

After being charged with terrorism, Mutazz spent time in Camp Bucca, the notorious U.S. prison in Iraq, Rudaw reported. He changed his name and joined ISIS after being released.

He served as the top deputy under ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and reportedly played a major role in military and logistical strategies during the continuing conflict in Iraq and Syria.

#black life's matter ...Fatal shooting of black teen in U.S. city sparks protests

 POLICE in the United States (U.S.) state of Missouri
have fatally shot a black teenager, who they say
pointed a gun at them, and later faced angry crowds,
reigniting racial tensions in the country.
Sam Dotson, the police chief of the city of St Louis,
said the shooting took place on Wednesday when
young black men ran out of the back door of a house
where two officers were carrying out a search warrant.
Officers ordered the pair to stop in an alley behind the
house. One suspect pointed a gun at officers who then
fired four times, killing him, Dotson said. “Detectives
were looking for guns, looking for violent felons,
looking for people that have been committing crimes
in the neighbourhood,” he said. Police identified the
slain suspect as Mansur Ball-Bey, 18.
The second teenager fled. Both officers, who are
white, were unharmed, police said, adding that they
were on administrative leave. Following the incident,
crowds gathered at a nearby intersection shortly after
the shooting and then again in the evening.
Three people were arrested for blocking traffic, police
said. NBC television affiliate KSDK reported that
some in the crowd threw rocks at officers, who
responded with what appeared to be tear gas. St. Louis
television station Fox 2 showed officers in riot gear
lined up across a street, a burning mattress and clouds
of smoke or tear gas.
St. Louis Alderman, Antonio French, posted on
Twitter that a vacant house and a car were set on fire,
and that firefighters were working under heavy police
guard. Dotson the police chief told reporters that Ball-
Bey’s gun was stolen and said officers recovered
crack cocaine at the scene.
The city police said the officers involved in the
shooting were white, aged 33 and 29, each with about
seven years on the force. The shooting came 10 days
after the city was flooded with protesters marking the
anniversary of the killing of unarmed black teenager
Michael Brown by a white police officer on August 9
last year in Ferguson, not far from St Louis.
Brown’s death helped spark a nationwide movement
against what protesters say is police violence against
minorities. Wednesday’s shooting also came as
activists were in the area to mark the anniversary of
the police shooting of another black man in St. Louis,
Kajieme Powell. Police say officers shot Powell when
he approached them with a knife.

BREAK UP ALERT....Dakota Johnson Spotted With Mystery Man Who Isn't Boyfriend Matthew Hitt

  Dakota Johnson was seen with a mystery dudewhile sipping smoothies yesterday in Los Angeles, which is doing nothing to squelch rumors that she and boyfriend Matthew Hitt are on the outs.
Just yesterday we mentioned on our wordprethat it appeared Dakota and her British rocker boyfriend may have hit a rough patch-- and now that she's enjoying healthy beverages with another man, we're even more concerned.
The last time Dakota and Matthew were spotted together was two months ago, kind of a long time to go without being seen as a couple in public. There were a lot of rumors suggesting Matthew couldn't quite wrap his head around theFifty Shadesmadness and wanted nothing to do with the spotlight that came with it.
More fromThe Stir: Fifty Shades of Grey : 11 Celebs Who Can't Get Enough
Kind of a bummer because the pair were so cute together with their hand-holding walks and whatnot. At the same time, you can hardly blame a guy for bailing on the paparazzi involved with a film likeFifty Shades of Grey. That's no fun for anyone.

Buhari may be assassinated soon ....somebody said this to our president

  Hajiya Najatu Mohammed,a prominent All
Progressives Congress (APC) politician from Kano
State and close political associate of President
Muhammadu Buhari, in an interview with
Newsdiaryonline, has expressed fears that some
forces are seeking to scuttle the commendable anti-
corruption moves of the president. Read below;
"I want to zero it and attach it to what
(Governor Ayodele) Fayose has said on
several occasions. He has come out to say, I
mean the current governor of Ekiti; he has
come out to say on quite a few occasions
that if you vote Buhari, he is going to die
anyway! He is going to die like Abacha died
in office, like Murtala died in office, like
(Umaru)Yar’Adua died in office.
Now look at these three people, they are
all northerners and they were all
assassinated. So if you link it up with this
move that has happened before,we are
saying no to it.”“There are very, very strong
reasons to believe that they just finished
him up and he didn’t die in office. He had a
terminal illness; there is no doubt about
that. But quite a few people know including
his doctors that that they expedited his
death through poisoning.
So if that is it, in fact, why should Fayose
include Yar Adua, if they know truly and
honestly that he just died of natural causes.
Because they were all assassinated. Murtala
was assassinate, Abacha was assassinated.”
“My fear is that having heard what Fayose
said, having seen the trend that this so-
called peace committee is taking, trying to
propagate against the government of
Muhammadu Buhari. I fear that they might
try to assassinate him and give excuses,
because already the cat has been out of the
sack from what Fayose has said.
And looking at history and the trend, the
cat is out of the sack. So let me tell them
and we are telling them in no uncertain
terms that is no longer acceptable. No one
will ever hold Nigeria to ransom again.
We’ll hold them responsible.”

Perform a holistic anti-corruption war PDP tells federal government

  Abuja - The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caucus
in the House of Representatives on Wednesday
urged the Federal Government to adopt a holistic
approach in its fight against corruption.
The group made the call in a news conference on
Wednesday in Abuja.
Addressing the conference on behalf of the caucus,
its Spokesman, Rep. Rima Kwewum (Taraba)
stressed that the anti-corruption crusade of the
present administration required probe that was
holistic.
He urged the government to focus on delivering its
mandate to Nigerians and not be preoccupied by
only fight against corruption.
Kwewum, however, expressed support of the
caucus and PDP to the anti-corruption campaign,
but said that the approach should be holistic.
"Probe should not be limited to selected citizens of
the country,’’ he cautioned.
  According to him, in the laws of Nigeria, corruption
is a crime.
"A crime could have been committed ten years ago,
but it is still a crime. Nobody has the power to
decide on his own that a crime committed at a
certain period is no longer a crime.
"A crime at any point as long as it is within our
memory, as long as facts can be brought up, is a
crime.
"This is why we are saying as a party that the fight
against corruption should not have any limitation
about what has happened as to time,’’ he said.
He also urged the government to ensure that
perpetrators of corrupt practices were duly
prosecuted.
"How can you come and say that you are not going
to prosecute people because you have arbitrarily
drawn a line without an amendment to the
Constitution; because the Constitution has not given
status of limitation.
"Any criminal activity is a criminal activity until it is
investigated and its perpetrators are penalized,’’
Kwewum said.

Cultists use tramadol, soft drink to kill victims – Police

   Leave a Comment
The Kwara State Command of the Nigeria Police, on
Wednesday in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, says it
has uncovered a new strategy used by cultists and
other hoodlums to poison their victims and
dispossess them of their valuables.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ajayi
Okesanmi, said the cultists and other evil minded
people put tramadol inside a Lacasera drink or other
soft drinks and make their victims to drink it thinking
they were drinking safe soft drink.
Okesanmi explained that the victims, after drinking
the poisoned drink, would fall asleep while the
bandits would dispossess the victims of his or her
valuables.
He warned the public to be cautious of such evil
schemes and avoid taking gifts from unknown people,
especially during traveling.
The PPRO spoke in Ilorin while parading three
suspects for alleged involvement in the recent cult
clashes in the state capital and for allegedly
conspiring to poison a lady and dispose her of her
money.
Okesanmi added that the police on Monday arrested
two suspects, Adeniyi Sijibomi (18) and Tosin David
for allegedly trying to poison a lady, Bidemi Adewole,
of the Sapati Ile area of Ilorin.
He said the suspects were members of a cult group.
According to him, the suspects, who are also from
the Sapati Ile area, had poisoned a bottle of Lacasera
drink with tramadol and attempted to force the
victim to drink it, explaining that Adewole
miraculously escaped.
The PPRO said Adewole later complained to the
police that the suspects had allegedly conspired to
kill her using a poison-laden Lacasera drink.
The police spokesman alleged that Sijibomi and John
Onucho (25) were involved in the cult clashes in Ilorin
in which two people were confirmed dead by the
police.
He stated that the suspects were all members of Eiye
confraternity, adding that two locally manufactured
pistols, two live cartridges and one expended
cartridge were recovered from the suspects.
Okesanmi said, “On Tuesday, in a bid to arrest the
perpetrators of the last cult clashes in Ilorin, which
led to the killing of two young men, the command, in
addition to suspects earlier arrested and charged,
had also picked up the two suspects, who confessed
to being part of the latest cult activities recorded last
week with the arms used in the dastardly act.”
But the suspects denied the police allegations against
them.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress, Kwara
State chapter, has condemned the cult clashes in the
state capital.
The party, in a statement by its state’s Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari, described the cult
clashes as unfortunate, condemnable and
unacceptable to the peace-loving people of Kwara
State.

S.Africa suspends decision to free Pistorius B

   South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, serving a
five-year prison term for killing his girlfriend, may not
walk free as expected this week because the decision
to release him was “premature”, the justice ministry
said Wednesday.
Justice Minister Michael Masutha said in a statement
that a June decision to release him on Friday — after
he had served just one-sixth of his sentence — had
“no legal basis” and would be suspended pending a
parole board review.
“It is apparent… that the decision to release him on 21
August 2015 was made prematurely on 5 June 2015,
when the offender was not eligible to be considered at
all,” the statement said.
The decision to free the 28-year-old had angered the
family of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, who was
killed by Pistorius on Valentine’s Day in 2013.
He was convicted in October of culpable homicide,

megaan fox and brian greene reportedly breaks up

August 19, 2015: According to US WEEKLY Megaan Fox And Brian Greene Are SEPARATING. They claim Meagan was caught cheating. Here is what they're saying:

Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green are going forward as solo acts. After 11 years together, five of them as a married couple, “Megan has separated from Brian,” an insider reveals exclusively in the new issue of Us Weekly. “They decided on it six months ago.”

Their romance has recently been plagued with issues. Though sources remain vague on the exact cause of their split, “things have been rocky,” says one source close to the parents of sons Noah, 2, and Bodhi, 18 months. (Green, 42, also has son Kassius, 13, from a previous relationship.)

Nigerias Defence Headquaters denies death of 150

 The Defence Headquarters, DHQ, has debunked media reports that 150 Yobe villagers were either either shot dead or drowned while fleeing from attacks on their village by members of Boko Haram.

Instead, the DHQ claimed four members of the violent sect and a member of the civilian Joint Task Force were killed during a gun battle.

“The truth of the matter is the military got an intelligence report concerning a planned attack by Boko Haram on Kukuwa-Gari village in Yobe State. Following the tip-off, troops and civilian JTF laid ambush between Kukuwatashi and Kukuwa-Gari villages The insurgents ran into them and a gun-battle ensued in which four Boko Haram members and one civilian JTF lost their lives,” said in statement released on Wednesday.

The DHQ further stated that at the end of the encounter,two AK 47 rifles and two motorcycles used by the Boko Haram terrorists were recovered from them.

“The Armed Forces therefore implore the media to always seek clarification of stories before going to press as most of these unsubstantiated reports tend to embolden or encourage the terrorists to believe they are invincible, thus instilling perpetual fear in the minds of the citizens, especially, those in the contested areas of the North East.

The DHQ said the “military is doing all within its power to protect lives and property of Nigerians in any part of the country and thus, solicits cooperation and understanding of the media to be partners in progress in this noble task.” 

Okonjo Iweala denies $1billion diversion

 After allegations that $1 billion loan sourced from China-EximBank for the construction of Kano-Lagos rail project was diverted under her watch, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, the former minister of finance in Nigeria, is now speaking through her media adviser, Paul Nwabuikwu, on the allegations.

Follow the jump to see what Iweala is saying about the claims:

I want to state categorically that there is no truth in the reported allegation. Anyone who is interested can cross-check with the China-EximBank or the Chinese Embassy. The alleged diversion has no substance for the simple reason that the Kano-Lagos project was not even among the projects presented for funding by the China Exim Bank for several strategic infrastructural projects across the country.

In fact, it was the Lagos–Ibadan rail project, not Lagos-Kano rail project that was proposed in the original application to the China-EximBank. But in the end, no funds were assigned for the Lagos-Ibadan rail project by the China-EximBank.

It is also important to note that even if the alleged project was on the list of China-EximBank funded projects, diversion of any Chinese funds would have been extremely difficult because the terms of the contract and the processes would simply not have permitted such action.

The procedure is that funds for approved loans remain in the China-EximBank and are released directly to the Chinese firm executing the contract only after the presentation of duly certified proof of work by the responsible Ministry, in this case it would have been the Federal Ministry of Transport, based on the agreed milestones.

For the sake of emphasis, the China-EximBank does not disburse money directly to government and therefore the issue of diversion does not arise

  

Over 150 people drowned when fleeing Boko Haram

Up to 150 people drowned in a river or were shot dead fleeing Boko Haram gunmen who raided a remote village in Nigeria’s northeastern Yobe state, locals said on Tuesday. Dozens of militants arrived on motorcycles and a car on Thursday last week and opened fire, scattering terrified residents of Kukuwa-Gari. “They opened fire instantly, which forced residents to flee. They shot a number of people. Unfortunately many residents who tried to flee plunged into the river which is full from the rain. Many drowned,” Modu Balumi, a resident of the village told AFP. “By our latest toll we have 150 people either (shot dead) or drowned in the attack. The gunmen deliberately killed a fisherman who tried to save drowning residents of the village.” Balumi said the bodies of many of the drowned were picked out by locals several kilometres away. News of the attack was slow to emerge because the militants have destroyed telecom masts around the village, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Yobe State capital Damaturu, since the insurgency began in 2009. “Boko Haram gunmen attacked our village on Thursday which led to the deaths of around 150 people. Most of the victims died in the river while trying to escape. The gunmen opened fire on the village forcing people to run to safety,” Bukar Tijjani, another villager, told AFP. “Most residents, particularly women and children, ran towards the river in confusion. They were pursued by the gunmen, who kept firing at them. In the frantic effort to escape they jumped into the river, which was full to the brim.” A local government official confirmed the attack but put the death toll much lower, at around 50.

YOBE to open public schools amidst insurgency

The Yobe State Government said it has rehabilitated over 300 classrooms and provided infrastructure in schools destroyed by insurgents across the state “to avoid gaps in the system.” The Director of Press to the State Governor, Mr. Abdullahi Bego, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Damaturu. Bego said the state government had made education and health care a priority that would receive major intervention in the next four years. “About 3,000 teachers have been recruited and posted to schools across the state to boost manpower requirement to improve the standard of education in the state. “The state government has committed enormous resources in rehabilitation and provision of instructional materials to primary and secondary schools to ensure that communities whose schools were destroyed by insurgents get back to school. “Similarly, government has provided resources to the tertiary institutions to ensure full accreditation of courses offered by the tertiary institutions and I am glad to say that 98 per cent of courses offered by the state university have been fully accredited and recognised,” he said. He said the College of Education, Gashua, had received similar support and was producing over 1,000 NCE and 100 degree graduates fully qualified for teaching in schools. “The state government had diligently absorbed 15,000 university, HND, OND and NCE graduates under the Youth Empowerment Programme, while unskilled youth were trained in various trades and settled with working tools and take-off grants after graduation for self reliance. “The Gaidam administration achieved all these, including prompt payment of salaries through financial prudence and, without seeking bank loans at a time when many states could not even pay salaries,” the director said. He also said the state government had completed the construction of a 200-bed capacity ultra modern hospital in Damaturu to serve as a referral hospital that was being provided with state-of-the-art equipment.

FG to employ over 10,000 policemen to monitor CCTV

 TWO years after the last recruitment by the Nigeria
Police Force, President Muhammadu Buhari on
Monday unveiled Federal Government’s plans to
recruit fresh 10,000 policemen.
Buhari, who spoke at the National Security Summit
on Community Partnership Approach to Internal
Security and Crime Management, organised by the
police in Abuja, said the government would also
establish a well-trained and equipped anti-terrorism
and multi-agency based task force to address the
challenge of insurgency in a sustainable manner.
The PUNCH had exclusively reported a few weeks ago
that the last recruitment by the force was in 2013
because the Force lacked funds.
Buhari also said that efforts were being made to
enhance the operational capacity of officers of the
Nigeria Police through a training programme
targeted at giving them the right civil orientation in
performing their roles as guardians of the
Constitution.
At the summit, the President stated that the
government was already considering the expansion
of the Closed Circuit Television across major cities
and towns in the country.
He said, “It is in acknowledgement of this that I have
identified youth empowerment as one of the cardinal
objectives of our administration; in furtherance to
this, the Federal Government is planning to employ
at least an extra 10, 000 police officers and establish
a properly trained and equipped federal anti-
terrorism multi-agency task force that will effectively
address the challenge of future insurgency in a
sustainable manner.
“In the meantime, efforts are being made to enhance
the operational capacity of officers of the Nigeria
Police through a tailor made training programme
that will give them the right civil orientation in their
roles as guardians of the constitution.
“In order to further strengthen security of the public
space, consideration is being given to the expansion
of the CCTV monitoring system across major cities
and towns in the country, while the police
accountability mechanism will be strengthened.”
In appreciation of the strategic roles of the citizens
and the community in modern policing, the President
stated that his administration would encourage states
to look at states-level community interacting with
police under a model that would integrate members
of the community to policing functions at the grass-
roots level.
He commended the police leadership for dismantling
roadblocks and deploying policemen in the highway
to protect Nigerians.
The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase,
called for funding of the Nigeria Police to ensure
operational efficiency, stressing that it was only
through adequate funding that the huge logistic
demand of the police could be met.
Arase noted that modern policing was a cost-
intensive venture, which he said the benefits far
outweighed the value of budgetary investment.
“Through effective funding, the welfare needs of
police personnel will be met and the challenge of
corruption that has eroded professionalism and
public respect for police will be addressed,” he said.
He called for the resuscitation and passage of the Bill
on Police Trust Fund pending before the National
Assembly to enhance public-police partnership.
The bill seeks to tax corporate entities to
complement the Federal Government in funding the
police.
Arase maintained that if the bill was passed into law,
the funding challenges of the police would be
addressed on a sustainable basis. He said that the
security challenges in the country and inadequate
manpower would be best addressed through citizens-
driven policing model
.BREAKING NEWS!!!

Custom chief resigns in the fear or anti corruption war ..la la la

  President Muhammadu Buhari has accepted the
resignation of the Comptroller-General of the
Nigeria Customs Service, Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi.
With the acceptance, Abdullahi is expected to
proceed on voluntary retirement from Tuesday
(today).
He had earlier written a letter dated August 3 to the
President in which he notified Buhari of his desire to
proceed on voluntary retirement from Tuesday.
Buhari’s approval of Abdullahi’s request was dated
August 14 and personally signed by the President.
He thanked the NCS boss for his services to the
country in the last six years.
The President’s letter was titled, “Voluntary
retirement from the Nigeria Customs Service.”
The approval read, “Dear, Alhaji D.I. Abdullahi. I
write to acknowledge the receipt of your letter Ref.
No. NCS/ADM/HQ/P. 35802 of 3rd August, 2015
conveying your decision to voluntarily retire from
the Nigeria Customs Service with effect from
Tuesday, August 18, 2015.
“I note with appreciation your services to this nation,
especially as the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria
Customs Service in the last six years.
“Accordingly, I hereby approve your voluntary
retirement from the Nigeria Customs Service with
effect from 18th of August, 2015.
“I wish you the very best in your future endeavours.
“Yours sincerely, Muhammadu Buhari.”
Abdullahi had in his letter to the President thanked
him for the confidence and trust reposed on him
since he (Buhari) was inaugurated on May 29.
He said by August 18, he would be six years in office
as the Comptroller-General of the NCS.
He recalled that on assumption of office, he
articulated a six-point agenda which he vigorously
pursued.
He said the agenda had positively impacted on the
efficiency and performance of officers of the service
and had drastically changed the negative perception
of the service.
He listed the six-point agenda to include capacity
building, introduction of e-Customs, enhancing
productivity through improved welfare package,
moral rebirth for discipline and integrity in service,
collaboration and partnering stakeholders and
international organisations, as well as fostering
understanding of the Service in the eye of the
general public using an intensified and a well-
coordinated public relations platform.
He added that the decision to resign “is taken with a
view to allowing young people to take over the
mantle of leadership of the service in order to
sustain and improve on my legacy.”
The President has yet to name Abdullahi’s successor
at the time of filing this report.
Speaking with State House correspondents shortly
after paying a farewell visit to President Buhari at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday, Abdullahi said
he had nothing to fear about the ongoing
investigation of revenue-earning agencies being
conducted by the Federal Government.
Abdullahi said revenue appreciated under his watch
by 20 per cent.
He said, “The only way the NCS can move forward is
by sacrifice; to give chance to others so that they can
continue with the legacy that we have up in place.
“Revenue appreciated by 20 per cent from when I
took over and the officers that did the work are still
around and I think that the NCS, I stand to be
corrected, is the only service that is fully automated
in the system of operation.
“We have no fear. The time I’m leaving is the time I
feel those young ones that have developed the
software can manage the software.

• “So, that is basically the reason.”

Geez... 65 year old gives birth to quadruplets

   Highly premature quadruplets born to a 65-year-old
German woman three months ago are doing well and
will leave hospital in a few days, media reported
Monday.
German commercial television station RTL presented
what it called the first footage of Neeta, Dries, Bence
and Fijon since they were born about at 15 weeks in
early May.
“We can see that the children are doing well. They
feel good with their mother,” said Christoph Buehrer,
who heads neonatal services at the Charite hospital in
Berlin where the infants have been treated since their
birth.
In a case that has sparked controversy in Germany,
teacher Annegret Raunigk — who has already had 13
children — gave birth to the quadruplets by Caesarian
section after travelling to Ukraine for fertility treatment
with anonymous sperm and egg donors.
The three baby boys and a girl, who weighed between
655 and 960 grams (1.4 to 2.1 pounds) at birth, were
described by Buehrer as “absolute high risk” cases.
Two of the newborns had to be given help breathing,
and two had to undergo surgery.
But they are now out of danger, and have gained
about three times their birth weight, RTL said. Buehrer
described them now as “normal children”.
Raunigk, a grandmother of seven, had said that she
decided to try to have another child because her
youngest daughter, who was nine, wanted a little
brother or sister.
News of her multiple pregnancy emerged in April
when she dismissed critics who said she was acting
irresponsibly due to her age.
“How does one have to be at 65?” RTL quoted her as
saying at the time. “One must apparently always fit
some cliches which I find rather tiring.
“I think one must decide that for oneself.”

Criticism trails CBN policy on ATM withdrawal limit AUG

 Some bank customers in Jos on Monday criticised the
new Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy which cut down
withdrawals from Automated Teller Machines.
The customers, in separate interviews with the News
Agency of Nigeria, expressed disappointment with
the policy which cut down ATM withdrawals from
N100,00 to N60,000.
Mr. Sunday John, a trader, said the policy would
cripple business activities especially during
weekends.
According to him, the new CBN policy contradicts its
cashless policy and should be reversed.
“This is because most banks customers, who have
become used to going to ATMs to withdraw whenever
they have need of cash, are now constrained to make
maximum withdrawals.”
Mr. Emeka Chika, another customer, said the policy
was “not business-friendly.”
He said as a businessman, the policy would affect his
capacity, especially during weekends.
Mr. Emmanuel Chukwu told NAN that the policy had
delayed him from finishing a project at the weekend
due to insufficient funds.
He appealed to the CBN to “provide an alternative or
increase the cash withdrawal limit.” 

Five early-season worries for Chelsea

 Chelsea’s one-sided 3-0 loss away to Manchester City
on Sunday left the defending champions five points
below their opponents in 16th place in the nascent
Premier League standings.
The season may be only two games old, but Chelsea
already appear to be in difficulty, having failed to
record a win in their opening two league games for
the first time since 1998.
Here, AFP Sports lists five issues that will be
troubling Chelsea’s fans ahead of this weekend’s trip
to West Bromwich Albion, where they lost 3-0 on
their last visit:
1. Mourinho’s mood
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho wrote the book on
diversionary tactics, but the spikiness with which he
has attacked the new season suggests that all is not
well behind the scenes at Stamford Bridge. It is only
mid-August and he has already launched barbs at
Everton manager Roberto Martinez, his old Arsenal
adversary Arsene Wenger and City manager Manuel
Pellegrini, made a cruel jibe about Rafael Benitez
and demoted two of his medics, Eva Carneiro and Jon
Fearn, after they angered him by running on to treat
Eden Hazard during the 2-2 draw with Swansea City.
He may have signed a new contract on the eve of the
season, but Chelsea fans who remembered how
Mourinho’s first spell at the club unravelled
acrimoniously in 2007 will hope that his mood
improves quickly.
2. Defensive frailties
Chelsea boasted the league’s stingiest defence in the
first two seasons following Mourinho’s return from
Real Madrid, but the sight of Sergio Aguero
repeatedly strolling through their back line at the
Etihad Stadium showed the extent to which it has
become an area of concern. “I’ve never seen them so
disorganised,” said Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville.
Mourinho said that John Terry’s unceremonious half-
time withdrawal had merely been a means by which
to add more pace — in the form of Kurt Zouma — to
his floundering back four, but it may also have been
intended as a message to Chelsea’s directors to step their pursuit of everton's john snow.

  SEE CHELSEA MATCH SCHEDULES HERE

3. Ivanovic struggles
No player has symbolised Chelsea’s problems more
in their opening two league games than right-back
Branislav Ivanovic. A Stamford Bridge stalwart for the
last six seasons, the Serbian was left chasing shadows
by Swansea’s Jefferson Montero and was at fault for
City’s second and third goals, being out-jumped by
Vincent Kompany at a corner and then presenting the
ball straight to Fernandinho. The arrival of Ghana
left-back Abdul Rahman Baba from Augsburg may
offer a chance to take the 31-year-old out of the
spotlight, as it would give Mourinho the possibility of
switching Cesar Azpilicueta to his preferred position
of right-back.
4. Hazard warning
It says much that Hazard’s most notable contribution
to Chelsea’s campaign so far has been the injury he
sustained in the latter stages of the game against
Swansea that launched the Carneiro/Fearn polemic.
Last season’s multiple Player of the Year, the Belgian
winger has looked off the pace in the campaign to
date, sleep-walking through pre-season and failing to
make an impression against either Swansea or City.
He squandered Chelsea’s best chance of an equaliser
at the Etihad, shooting too close to Joe Hart.
5. Recruitment hiccups
Chelsea’s close-season transfer dealings in 2014 were
masterful, with Cesc Fabregas, Diego Costa, Filipe
Luis and Didier Drogba all arriving before the end of
July, giving Mourinho time to shape his new-look
team. This year, Chelsea have not materially
strengthened, having merely replaced the outgoing
Petr Cech, Luis and Drogba with Asmir Begovic,
Rahman and Radamel Falcao. A new centre-back is a
priority, but Chelsea also look light in attack, where
the champions are unhealthily reliant on Costa and
his troublesome hamstrings. Falcao and Loic Remy do
not pose anything like the same goal threat and Juan
Cuadrado, a £23.3 million ($36.4 million, 32.9 million
euros) signing from Fiorentina in January, has been a
major disappointment. 

Evolving Man Utd make Champions League return

   The Champions League theme music will boom out over Old Trafford again on Tuesday when
Manchester United return to the competition against Belgian side Club Brugge in the play-off
round.
After a first season out of the competition in 19
years, United have been led back by Louis van Gaal,
who won the Champions League with a brilliant,
young Ajax team in 1995 and took Bayern Munich to
the final in 2010.
Fourth in the Premier League last season, United
have opened the new campaign with 1-0 wins over
Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, and Juan Mata
believes Friday’s victory at Villa Park showed the
team’s readiness.
“I think we can improve, but six points from six
points is a very good start for us and now we have a
lot of confidence ahead of the Champions League
play-off,” the Spanish midfielder told MUTV.
 “The clean sheet is a very positive factor. We’re
talking about having new players at the back and
they’re doing great as well.”
It is a year and four months since United last played
in the Champions League, losing to Bayern in the
quarter-finals in April 2014, and it says much about
the profound change the club has undergone since
then that only four of the players who played in the
3-1 second-leg defeat in Munich are likely to line up
against Club Brugge.
Patrice Evra, Nemanja Vidic, Darren Fletcher, Shinji
Kagawa and Danny Welbeck have left the club, while
David Moyes is no longer in the dug-out, having been
sacked 13 days later.
Of those who made it onto the pitch against Bayern
that remain, Phil Jones is currently sidelined with
thrombosis, Antonio Valencia and Javier Hernandez
are out of favour and goalkeeper David de Gea has
been removed from the team after becoming
unsettled by Real Madrid’s interest.
That leaves Wayne Rooney, Chris Smalling, Michael
Carrick and Adnan Januzaj, a late substitute at the
Allianz Arena, who came in from the cold to score
the winner at Villa after disappearing from view in
Van Gaal’s first season.
Januzaj is one of two Belgian players in Van Gaal’s
squad alongside Marouane Fellaini, who is serving a
three-match domestic suspension but could feature
on Tuesday.
– De Sutter swansong –
Having marked his return with a goal, Januzaj will
hope to hold onto his place at number 10 in support
of Rooney, although Van Gaal expressed reservations
about his use of the ball against Tim Sherwood’s side.
Memphis Depay, the £25 million ($39.1 million, 35.2
million euros) signing from PSV Eindhoven, was also
singled out for criticism by the manager, but Mata
has backed the Dutch international, who squandered
an excellent late chance against Villa, to come good.
“The good thing is that he is having the chances,” said
Mata, a European champion with Chelsea in 2012.
“He’s getting in the position to have the chances, but
the goals will come for him. I think he will score for
us very soon.”
While United contested three Champions League
finals between 2008 and 2011, winning one, Club
Brugge are the only Belgian club to have reached the
final, losing 1-0 to Liverpool at Wembley in 1978.
Michel Preud’homme’s side finished top of the table
in Belgium last season, but lost out to Gent in the
ensuing championship play-off.
For former Belgium striker Tom De Sutter, the tie
against United, which concludes on August 26, will
serve as a swansong prior to his departure for
Turkish side Bursaspor.
Club Brugge, who last played in the group phase in
2005, have made a modest start to the season,
winning twice, drawing once and losing once, and
Preud’homme is concerned that his team have been
playing too much sideways football.
“There’s not enough tempo or depth,” said the
former Belgium goalkeeper, whose team beat
Panathinaikos 4-2 on aggregate in the third qualifying
round.
“Playing like this, it will be impossible to trouble
Manchester.”

Deep crisis emerg in FIFA...Chung launches FIFA presidency bid, attacks Blatter

  South Korean billionaire Chung Mong-Joon on Monday launched his formal campaign for the
FIFA presidency with an outspoken attack on outgoing leader Sepp Blatter and a vow to fix
the scandal-tainted world football body in four years.
“Today FIFA is undergoing a profound crisis. Under
these circumstances, the FIFA president must be a
crisis manager and a reformer,” the 63-year-old
Chung, a former FIFA vice president, told a press
conference in Paris.
“The problem at FIFA is that those mired in
corruption, the only thing they are interested in is
hiding the corruption,,” he added.
“The real reason FIFA has become such a corrupt
organization is because the same person (Blatter) has
been running it for 40 years. Absolute power
corrupts absolutely'
 Chung vowed that if successful in an election to be
held in February he would serve just one term.
“I can change FIFA in four years. That is my pledge to
football fans in the world.”
UEFA president Michel Platini and Brazil football
legend Zico have also announced they are candidates.
Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, another former FIFA vice
president from Jordan, is also considering a run.

OMG!!! Funke Akindele Gets Married To Nigerian Rapper Falz (See Photos)

  I’m sure you ran in here, lol. Don’t worry these
new pictures are only for a new movie Funke is
shooting titled “Jenifa’s Diary 2″. Could you
imagine if these two were actually getting
married for real? see photos here

Diezani Allison-Madueke On Her Hospital Bed looking fresh In London (Photos)

 The ex federal government appointee was photoed
in a hospital bed in London. click here to see pictures

Wizkid, psquare and others to Headline Glo's slide and bounce concert

 Nigeria’s entertainment circle is set to experience fun as telecoms operator Globacom has
concluded arrangements to stage the star- studded Slide and Bounce concert. The concert
kicks off in Ibadan, Oyo State, on August 29, and is billed to berth in 10 other locations across
the country. It will parade the best artistes in the nation’s music industry.
In a statement released on Monday, Globacom stated
that the show “is packaged for the delight of our
teeming subscribers in all the selected locations and
adjoining cities and towns in order to give our loyal
customers the best entertainment experience they
can imagine”.
Globacom listed the 11 locations that will host the
reloaded Glo Slide and Bounce concert
to include Ikeja, Ikorodu, Egbeda, Surulere and
Victoria Island in Lagos. Other cities
include Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Abeokuta, Ijebu
Ode, Benin and Abuja.
The statement further indicates that artistes billed to
perform at the concert include PSquare, Wizkid,
Flavour, D’banj, Wande Coal, Korede Bello, MI, Burna
Boy, Di’Ja and Bez. Others are Edem and Kakee from
Ghana, and Sessime from Benin Republic. DJ Xgee,
DJ Neptune, DJ Tops and DJ Jimmy Jatt will mount
the jukebox while the trio of Gbenga Adeyinka, Okey Bakassi to anchor the show
 The company assured the first 100 fun seekers to
arrive at the various venues for a photo session with
Glo superstars such as Mama G, Funke Akindele,
Odunlade Adekola, Mr. Ibu, Chiwetalu Agu and Ini
Edo. They will also receive branded gift items from
Globacom.  

Anti-corruption war begins • ICPC seizes 24 property from three civil servants

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Tribunal has commenced a clampdown on very wealthy civil servants. Already, the agency has seized 24 property and several cars from three civil servants with one of them having 18 property. A document obtained from the Office of the Chairman of the ICPC, Mr. Ekpo Nta, with the title ‘Notice of Seizure of Movable and Immovable Properties Pursuant to Section 45 (4) a – (b) of the Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Ac 2000, revealed that the commission seized the property from three officials of the Ministry of Niger Delta. It stated that the property was seized because they were “excessive of the emoluments of the affected officers.” Although the document, dated August 11, 2015, is silent on the status of the officials, it was gathered that the three officials are all principal account officers of the ministry, which has been one of the focuses of investigations by the ICPC in recent times. The Niger Delta ministry officers listed in the document are Poloma Kabiru Nuhu, Mangset Longyl Dickson and Daniel Obah. The ICPC boss said the decision to seize the property would be served on the appropriate Land Registries and Departments in all the states where the property are situated. He stated, “The commission is investigating a matter involving some staff (members) of the Niger Delta Ministry, with certain movable and immovable property owned by the said staff. “The commission is of the opinion based on the aforementioned investigation that these movable and immovable property owned by these people who are staff of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs are excessive, having regards to their present emoluments and all other relevant circumstances. The commission hereby notifies the entire public that all movable and immovable properties owned by these staff (members) and listed hereunder are seized.” According to the ICPC boss, one of the officers, Nuhu, has 10 hectares of land, covered by Right of Occupancy at Kuje valued at N50m. It was stated that the same officer has an uncompleted duplex at Diamond Estate, Apo, Abuja, that is worth N90m. Nta also said Nuhu has 16 plots of land which are all covered by Certificate of Occupancy in different parts of Gwagwalada, Abuja. Another civil servant on the ICPC list, Dickson, is said to have a plot of land at Kubwa District, Cadastral Zone, Abuja. The property is valued at N7m. The third official, Obah, is said to own different plots of land in Abuja and Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Nta said Obah has a four-bedroom duplex at Karsana South District, Abuja, valued at N60m. He is also said to have a plot of land at Ozuoba, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Other plots of land said to belong to Obah are located in Umuodili Odubo Community in Rivers that is worth N16.5m; Olipobo Rumuekini Layout, Obio Akpor Local Government Area valued at N18m and another plot at Livingstone Estate Umuogodo, Igbo Etche in Obio Akpor Local Government of the Rivers State. The PUNCH had exclusively reported on July 30 that the Federal Government’s anti-corruption operatives had been sent after ‘super rich’ public officers who had multiple property and other assets suspected to have been the rewards of graft. According to the report, the searchlight of the anti- corruption agents was on civil servants that possess questionable property in the Federal Capital Territory. It was also reported that operatives in the Assets Tracing, Recovery and Management Unit of the ICPC had been asked to haul in suspects for interrogation and recovery of ill-gotten assets in their possession. The ICPC was reported to have strengthened the ATRMU by posting more personnel to the unit to ensure the success of its campaign. On Wednesday, the Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Samuel Ukura, had recommended the recovery of about N183bn being funds meant for the development of Niger Delta but which was allegedly diverted for other purposes. Ukura, who stated this in three special audit reports to the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Salisu Maikasuwa, explained that the amount was discovered in the periodic checks carried out by his office on the activities and programmes of the Niger Delta Development Commission between 2008 and 2012. According to him, N70.4bn was paid as mobilisation to various contractors who never reported to site, while N90.4bn was the extra-budgetary expenditure for heads and sub-heads without approval by the legal authorities. He also said N10bn was tax deductions without evidence of remittance to the Federal Inland Revenue Service; N5.8bn was payment to contractors for projects not executed, stalled or abandoned, while N1.2bn was undeducted taxes from contractors. Ukura added that N3.1bn was transfer made to unauthorised accounts; N1.7bn was staff outstanding staff advances which were never accounted for and N785m out of N1.1bn meant for the supply of furniture to various schools in Delta State was diverted. He explained that the funds for the furniture supply was certified paid whereas inspection carried out by the Auditor-General’s office revealed that no single chair was distributed during the period under review. Copyright PUNCH
  READ MORE STORY ON CORRUPTION TACKLE

FG monitors Nigerians’ Facebook, Twitter accounts

 The Federal Government has been monitoring the
social media accounts of Nigerians who are suspected
of having links with various terrorist groups, including
Boko Haram and the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq,
findings by SUNDAY PUNCH have shown.
Our correspondent learnt that through covert
operations, which have been going on for a while,
security agencies hack into the Facebook and Twitter
accounts of those they are monitoring.
The move, it was learnt, was meant to frustrate
terrorist attacks on the country.
The project, which is costing the country millions of
dollars, is being managed by the Office of the
National Security Adviser.
Multiple sources, who spoke to our correspondent on
condition of anonymity because they were not
authorised to inform the press about the security
checks, stated that the administration of former
President Goodluck Jonathan approved the request
by security agencies to spy on targeted sections of
the population, mainly religious extremists and
radicalised individuals.
It was gathered that the project is being coordinated
by some foreign firms, including an Israeli firm, Elbit
System.

Our correspondent learnt that the local espionage
involves hacking of phones, email accounts, social
media accounts and bugging of telephone
conversations of persons of interest.
A source said, “The surveillance system is not being
used to target everyone, as people may want to
believe. It is only deployed to get intelligence on
specific targets because it would be hard and difficult
to use such system to spy on all Nigerians; the
amount of data would be too huge and staggering for
the assessors to sort and manage.
“Basically, the system is used to hack into emails and
phones of targets, and the targets are those who are
suspected of having ties with terrorists, whether
Boko Haram, ISIS or any other criminal element.”

It was also learnt that the system had greatly assisted
security agencies to nip in the bud and also frustrate
many terror plots and attacks across the country.
The security agencies had been using electronic
trackers, which they were used to track and
apprehend kidnappers.
But it was learnt that the electronic surveillance
system is more effective and has better capacities to
hack emails, passwords and social media accounts
used by terrorists to recruit members.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel
Ojukwu, confirmed that security agencies were using
a sophisticated surveillance system as part of
measures to combat crime and terrorism in the
country.
He said, “It is not a new technology. Everywhere in
the world, it is used, including drones and other
sophisticated equipment. Nigeria is part of the
international community; we have our surveillance
system, which shows that Nigeria is developing.”
Ojukwu said the security agencies respect the rights
of Nigerians and were not using the system to hack
the phones and computers of innocent Nigerians.
The Department of State Services could not be
reached for information on their use of the
surveillance system.
Copyright PUNCH Read more headlines here

Evacuations as chemical fears grow at China blast site

Residents living close to the site of giant explosions in the Chinese port of Tianjin have been evacuated over fears of toxic contamination as new fires ignited. Armed police were carrying out evacuations within 3km of the blast site on Saturday after highly poisonous sodium cyanide was found, the Beijing News said. The blaze ignited again at the warehouse where the blasts struck on Wednesday night, with several small blasts heard by reporters from the Xinhua state news agency. “Out of consideration for toxic substances spreading, the masses nearby have been asked to evacuate,” Xinhua reported. Authorities announced on Saturday that the death toll has risen to 85, with more than 700 others still being treated in hospitals, including 25 who are in critical condition and 33 who are in serious condition. A survivor was pulled from a shipping container on Saturday morning, state media reported. His identity was not immediately known. Television video showed the man being carried out on a sketcher by a group of soldiers wearing gas masks. A team of chemical experts has been called in to the site to test for toxic gases. Shockwaves from the blasts late on Wednesday were felt by residents in apartment blocks kilometres away in the city of 15 million people. Furious residents and victims’ relatives railed against authorities outside a news conference on Saturday for keeping them in the dark as criticism over transparency mounted. Residents and relatives were prevented from entering the press conference and could be heard shouting outside. “Nobody has told us anything, we’re in the dark, there is no news at all,” screamed one middle-aged woman, as she was dragged away by security personnel.

Borno Deputy Governor dies

Leave a Comment Deputy Governor of Borno State, Zannah Umar Mustapha, has died in Yola, the Adamawa State capital. Though no ailment was reported, the state government, which expressed “shock and disbelief” at the deputy governor’s death, said Mustapha was in Yola to represent the state government at the convocation of the Modibbo Adama University of Science and Technology, Yola. A statement by the Secretary to the Borno State Government, Alhaji Usman Shuwa, on Saturday, added that the deceased was also scheduled to visit Borno State indigenes, who are quartered in the Internally Displaced Persons camps in Yola. The statement by Shuwa read, “It is with deep sense of utter shock and disbelief but with complete submission to the will of the Almighty Allah that the Borno State Government hereby announces the passing away of His Excellency, Alhaji Zannah Umar Mustapha, the Deputy Governor of Borno State. “He died in his sleep this morning(Saturday) in Yola, Adamawa State, where he was to represent Borno State Government at the convocation ceremony of Modibbo Adama University of Science and Technology, Yola. “He was also scheduled to follow up on his earlier visit to Yola, in connection with the welfare of Borno State citizens internally displaced as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency. “His is remains would be brought to Maiduguri for funeral at the Government House, Maiduguri at 4pm today, Saturday, August 15, 2015. He will be buried in Maiduguri. “His Excellency, Kashim Shettima, the Governor of Borno State, expresses his heartfelt condolence to the family of the deputy governor and the entire people of Borno State for the irreparable loss and appealed for prayers for the repose of the soul of our late deputy governor.”

WAEC releases results, with 39% pass in Eng/Maths

The West African Examinations Coincil, WAEC has released the May/June 2015 results and witholding the results of students in 13 states that are owing the Council. The Head of Nigerian Office, Mr Charles Eguridu who disclosed this at its Yaba Office said:”Out of 1,593,442 candidates who sat for the examinations, only 616,370 candidates, representing 38.68% obtained credits in five subjects and above including English Language and Mathematics.” Justifying the slight improvement in the results from previous years Eguridu said that in 2013, a total candidates who obtained five credits in English and Mathematics were 639,760 representing 38.30 per cent. He said, in 2014, 529,425 representing 31.28 per cent obtained five credits in English and Mathemstics.

See what mayweather posted on instagram

Choi! See what Floyd Mayweather posted on instagram

The champion boxer shared the photo above of him packing up 'little' cash for his trip. He captioned it: "I'm gonna just pack light for this trip". This is light, Floyd? Lol. In your universe, maybe

Manchester United wins first match of the season

The full-back diverted the ball into his own net
when putting Wayne Rooney under pressure in the
first half as the axed David de Gea watched on
from the stands
An own goal from Kyle Walker ensured
Manchester United opened the Premier League
season with a 1-0 victory over Tottenham at Old
Trafford on Saturday.
The right-back stabbed into the back of his own
net midway through the first half after a new-
look United side had made a shaky start.
David de Gea watched on as Sergio Romero made
his United debut, with Louis van Gaal stating that
the Spain goalkeeper is not in the right frame of
mind amid ongoing speculation over a move to
Real Madrid.
New signing Romero produced an assured display
- making a couple of fine, late saves - as
Tottenham were unable to build on an
encouraging start in which Christian Eriksen came
close to opening the scoring.
Van Gaal must have seen plenty of room for
improvement as he aims to turn United into title
contenders, but will be happy with three points
after losing at home to Swansea City on the
opening day last year.

2015/16 season preview

The 2015/16 football season kicks off this weekend – and you can warm-up for the new campaign with our comprehensive guide to the Premier League and Football League teams. Below you’ll find links to Premier League team profiles, complete with all the transfer news, statistics, pundit views and odds on each club. We also have a in-depth look at which teams and players could be making headlines in the Championship, League One and League Two over the coming months. ARSENAL Arsene Wenger’s side have been tipped to mount a serious title tilt this season, with new signing Petr Cech adding Premier League- winning experience to the Gunners’ improving squad. Arsenal were the in-form team in the second half of the 2014/15 season – can they maintain that level for an entire campaign? ASTON VILLA Aston Villa finished just three points above the relegation zone last season and the sale of star players Christian Benteke and Fabian Delph will have come as a blow to the club’s supporters. However, boss Tim Sherwood will hope that, after a full pre-season working with his squad, he can inspire them to a more successful campaign. CHELSEA Premier League champions Chelsea will start the 2015/16 season as favourites to clinch the title once again. No team has retained the Premier League title since Manchester United in 2008/09 but Jose Mourinho will hope his side can end that streak. A return to form of on-loan Radamel Falcao could be key. EVERTON Everton endured a frustrating 2014/15 season, when they failed to build on their fifth-place finish from the year before and, after flirting with the relegation zone, ending the campaign in 11th. Roberto Martinez will expect better this time around. Could Tom Cleverley and Gerard Deulofeu provide the creativity they need? LIVERPOOL Brendan Rodgers has been busy in the summer transfer window, adding the likes of Christian Benteke, James Milner, Roberto Firmino, Nathaniel Clyne and Danny Ings to his ranks, following a disappointing 2014/15 campaign. The Reds were unable to build on their second-place finish of the previous year and, following the departure of club legend Steven Gerrard, will be looking for new heroes to ignite their bid for a top-four finish. MANCHESTER CITY Manuel Pellegrini came under pressure at the end of last season following Manchester City’s failure to retain their Premier League crown or make any headway in the Champions League, but the Chilean held onto his job and will set out to prove his doubters wrong in 2015/16. The expensive recruitment of Raheem Sterling indicates City are eager to step up their title challenge this time around – but can they return to top spot? MANCHESTER UNITED For the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson stepped down, Manchester United could be realistic Premier League title contenders again in 2015/16. However, Louis van Gaal will need this season’s summer recruits – including rising Dutch star Memphis Depay, Germany stalwart Bastian Schweinsteiger and talented Frenchman Morgan Schneiderlin – to deliver. With Falcao, Robin van Persie and – seemingly – Angel di Maria out of the exit door, Wayne Rooney will be key.

Chris brown shows off car

Chris brown shows off $200k rezvani sport car http://pic.twitter.com/aGocaBN7N0

Dr.dre to release last album after 16 years

Dr. Dre doesn’t surface often — since N.W.A. disbanded in the early 1990s, he’s released just two albums and supervised one compilation — but when he does, he exudes what feels like decades’ worth of tension. A recurring theme of Dr. Dre’s lyrics and self- selected narrative is sacrifice. He walked away from Death Row, leaving behind his 50 percent ownership stake, worth millions of dollars, to secure his creative freedom and security. On his albums, he labors hard behind the scenes as a producer but is generally reluctant to hog the spotlight, instead showcasing others on his coattails. And when he raps, it’s often with exasperation — not boasts, but sighs. “I’m very aware hip-hop needed something to carry it/ So I married that bitch and swung down in that chariot,” he raps, somewhat bafflingly, on “Genocide,” a hard-snapping song from “Compton” (Aftermath/ Interscope), his third album, and first in 16 years. On “All in a Day’s Work,” he’s more succinct: “Though I gave everything to this game, they still complain.” No one else in hip-hop has built as impressive and seemingly bulletproof a reputation with as little material. He’s been one of hip-hop’s signature musical innovators, from N.W.A.’s gangster rap to his own G-funk to Eminem’s carnivalesque novelties and beyond. And yet for no one else is resentfulness so central. In part, that’s because of the decade-plus tease of “Detox,” the greatest example of performance anxiety in hip-hop history. He first announced it as his third album, after “The Chronic” (1992) and “2001” (1999), in 2002; only a couple of weeks ago did he finally admit defeat. “I didn’t like it,” he conceded during his radio show on Beats 1, the Apple Music station. “I don’t think I did a good enough job.” (Last year, Apple bought Beats Electronics, of which Dr. Dre was one of the principals. He subsequently boasted that he was “the first billionaire in hip-hop.”) Carrying hip-hop on his back has been relatively light work for Dr. Dre, when he has deigned to do it, but what he wants, mostly, is to be a conduit for others — to get out of the way. “Compton” — which was inspired by “Straight Outta Compton,” the new N.W.A. biopic Dr. Dre was an executive producer on — is a combination of utter confidence and hodgepodge distraction. Musically, it’s ornate and grand-scaled, and somehow also deft. But there’s almost an open-door policy in place for collaborators, meaning attack dogs like the new Compton superstar Kendrick Lamar coexist alongside more dubious talents, like the young Dre protégés Justus and King Mez. (In this, it recalls the scattershot 1996 compilation “Dr. Dre Presents... The Aftermath.”) But those are microconcerns, and Dr. Dre is macrominded. His true peers aren’t other hip- hop producers, not even tenured greats like Kanye West or Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes or even DJ Premier, the New York formalist who produces one song here, “Animals,” in a sort of fantasy-league, best- of-both-coasts arrangement. All of them, even the ambitious Mr. West, focus primarily on how small parts of songs interact to create the whole. You can hear the gears at work. Dr. Dre, by contrast, is more concerned with atmosphere, mood and texture. He has a production credit on about half of the songs on this album — and he uses samples elegantly, a dying skill — but he was involved with mixing all of them, and that’s a more important detail. Ever since “The Chronic,” it’s been clear that Dr. Dre’s real peers are film-score composers — say, John Williams or James Horner — who communicate emotional direction with broad, legible strokes that set the tone for the details to be sprinkled atop them. Because of that, Dr. Dre’s albums have always felt as if they’re about something other than the man himself. Primarily, they’re canvases for others: “The Chronic” was Snoop Doggy Dogg’s coming-out party, and “2001” was in part a showcase for Eminem, but also plenty of others (Knoc-turn’al, Hittman). Whether it’s out of generosity, reluctance, fear or habit, Dr. Dre rarely, if ever, wants to stand alone. Mainly, though, what “Compton” shows is that Dr. Dre isn’t wracked by self-doubt. He merely needs some kind of muse, something bigger than himself to believe in. In this case, the muse is both the city and the history on display in “Straight Outta Compton.” On “Talk About It,” he raps, “I remember selling instrumentals off a beeper,” and on “Talking to My Diary,” he recalls his early days in N.W.A. A sample of Eazy-E’s voice appears on “Darkside,” and “For the Love of Money” borrows its hook from Bone Thugs- n-Harmony, who were signed to Eazy-E’s label, Ruthless. Ice Cube appears, somewhat clumsily, on “Issues.” His former protégé Snoop Dogg (many years past the Doggy) is here, as are established Los Angeles rappers the Game, penetrating on “Just Another Day,” and Xzibit and Cold 187um (of Above the Law), both of whom shine on the ecstatically thumping “Loose Cannons.” Eminem is reliably crass on “Medicine Man,” including one particularly toxic line about rape. In light of the recent agonizing over the use of ghostwriters in hip-hop, it’s worth noting that Dr. Dre has long been understood to use young talent to contribute to his verses. Read the credits and listen to his verses, and it’s possible to make some educated guesses about who’s doing the puppeteering at different points on this album, whether because of the content — there are more flickers of political stridency than usual — or because of the flow, with Dr. Dre rapping in tricky syllabic patterns that his voice clearly doesn’t feel comfortable with. He tends to take on the qualities of whomever he’s sharing the song with, an odd concession from such a singular talent. That’s a form of hiding, too, though. And on “Compton,” he has at least one good reason to fade into the background: Mr. Lamar, who appears on three songs. Mr. Lamar is the photonegative of Dr. Dre — he’s a dense lyrical technician who can be all trees, no forest. As strong as his albums have been, he’s needed the caress of a Dr. Dre. “Deep Water” showcases each at their best — it’s more propulsive than almost anything on Mr. Lamar’s recent album, and still a sleek pairing for his dexterous verse. It’s an act of genuine intergenerational sharing: Each man’s approach to Compton is different, and personal. For years, Dr. Dre was authoring its story primarily through music; Mr. Lamar has made it the subject of his advanced-placement parables. Dr. Dre has said that “Compton” will be his “grand finale.” Maybe that’s because the torch is finally passed, and now he doesn’t owe anyone anything anymore.

ISIS kidnaps syrian christians

Islamic State militants have kidnapped scores of people from a church after taking control of the Syrian town of Qaryatain. At least 230 people were taken from the town in the central province of Homs, according to the UK- based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Among them were 45 women and 19 children, it said. Qaryatain lies between the cities of Homs, Palmyra and Damascus and has a mixed population of around 40,000 Sunni Muslims and Christians. It is home to a large number of people who have fled the fighting in Homs. Pictures published on IS-linked social-media accounts purported to show members of IS battling for the town and posing with a tank allegedly captured from Syrian forces. The Syrian army has reportedly launched a counter-offensive in an attempt to recapture the city. An army statement said its forces had targeted "terrorist outposts" in the area and killed scores of militants. In February, the group abducted some 250 Assyrian Christians during raids on villages in northeastern Syria which coincided with an offensive in the region by US-backed Kurdish forces. The latest abduction came as the US and its allies carried out 27 airstrikes against IS targets in Syria and Iraq, according to the US military.

Group advises Buhari against making Fashola a minister

A civil society group, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari against considering making the immediate past governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola a minister, Punch reports. The Executive Chairman of the group, Debo Adeniran, said following the number of controversies that trailed the administration of Fashola as governor of Lagos State, he deserves no ministerial appointment. He noted that when the Socio-Economic Right Accountability Project invoked the Freedom of Information Act to know how the Fashola government spent a $200m World Bank education funds, the state government refused to disclose it. He said instead, the state government continued to run its affairs in secrecy by claiming that the FOI Act did not apply to state governments. Adeniran said independent investigations by his organisation showed that the 1.36km Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge which was reportedly built for N25bn, cost only N6bn. He said he had written a series of petitions to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to probe the various projects of the Fashola government in the face of the over N500bn debt left behind by the government.

Buhari wants Defence Ministry to produce weapons

President Muhammadu Buhari President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday directed the Ministry of Defence to produce a plan for the establishment of a military industrial complex for the local production of weapons for the use of the nation’s armed forces.  According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President gave the directive at the graduation ceremony  of the National Defence College, Abuja.  He said the location production of weapons was meant to end the current over-dependence on other countries for military equipment and logistics.  He said such a thing was not acceptable to his administration.  “We must evolve viable mechanisms for near-self-sufficiency in military equipment and logistics production complemented only by very advanced foreign technologies.  “The Ministry of Defence is being tasked to draw up clear and measurable outlines for development of a modest military industrial complex for Nigeria.  “In this regard, it is to liaise with other strategic MDAs and industries to re-engineer the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria to meet national military hardware and logistics requirements,” the President was quoted as saying.  Buhari was said to have also told the gathering that his administration had, since its assumption of office, reviewed the nature and character of Nigeria’s  security threats and challenges.  “We recognised first and foremost, the external dimensions of these threats and the need for international cooperation and common security mechanisms to tackle them,” the President said. Buhari added that in the light of this realisation, his administration was convinced that the best approach was to work within the framework of the Lake Chad Basin Commission to mobilise a collective regional effort in the fight against terrorism and insurgency.  He urged  the graduates and officers and men of the Armed Forces to work harder to win the war against Boko Haram, terrorism and insurgency. “We must apply a comprehensive strategy and coordinate all elements of national power against terrorism and insurgency; we must show result-oriented leadership at all levels of military Command; we must set up an optimal organisation to manage and sustain operational performance; and we must show confidence and winning mentality,” he added. The President  assured the people that  the Federal Government under his leadership will strive to meet the operational, logistic, training and welfare requirements of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.  He also reaffirmed his commitment to ameliorating the hardships of people living in areas most affected by insurgency and terrorism. “We have the will, resolve and conviction to apply a comprehensive strategy and coordinate all elements of national power against terrorism and insurgency,” the President reassured Nigerians and the international community. Buhari said the National Defence College had fulfilled the vision of its founding fathers, by becoming a strategic human capacity-building institution, making credible contributions to Nigeria and other friendly countries. The President urged graduates of the College’s Course 23 to resolve to make “a marked difference in your future deployments and contribute your quota to the evolution and implementation of national security, defence and military strategies.” “You should be the source that lights up the environment wherever you find yourselves,”  he told them.

10-years old set to become worlds youngest athlete at swimming.

10-year-old set to become youngest athlete at swimming world championships to be held in Russia. Alzain Tareq will be participating in the women’s 50 metres butterfly in Kazan and will become the youngest competitor at world championships. Alzain Tareq The Bahrain star has been swimming since the age of four, supported by her father who is a former professional swimmer Tareq Salem. The schoolgirl from Bahrain says she will not “fear anything or anybody” when she takes part in the freestyle sprint or Saturday’s 50m butterfly heats. Tareq said that she was more interested in gaining experience of competing at high-profile events by watching the technical skill of famous Olympic champions and add some of their skills to her armoury. Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom Her qualifying time of 41.12 seconds in the 50m butterfly is dwarfed by the world record of 24.43 secs, set by Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom which could well fall. She has not yet shared her outstanding achievement with any of her classmates back at home but is very happy about how much she has achieved. SHARE ON: 0 COMMENTS UNDEFINED 10-year-old set to become youngest athlete at swimming world championships

Thai man jailed for 30 yrs for ‘insulting’ royals on Facebook

A Thai man was jailed for 30 years on Friday for “insulting” the monarchy on Facebook, in one of the toughest known sentences passed under the junta-ruled kingdom’s draconian lese majeste law. Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 87, is protected by one of the world’s strictest royal defamation rules under which anyone convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count. On Friday Bangkok’s Military Court found Pongsak Sriboonpeng, 48, guilty of posting messages and pictures defaming the monarchy in six posts on the social networking website. He was sentenced to 10 years on each count with the 60-year jail term halved after he pleaded guilty, his lawyer Sasinan Thamnithinan told AFP. “It’s broken the record,” she said about the severe jail term, adding that because Pongsak was arrested while Thailand was still under martial law there was no right to appeal the sentence passed by the military court. Lese majeste convictions have surged since Thailand’s generals seized power from an elected government in May 2014. According to iLaw, a local rights group that monitors such cases, there were just two ongoing prosecutions for royal defamation before the coup. Now that number is at least 56. Critics of the law say it has been used as a weapon against political enemies of the royalist elite and their military allies and now targets those opposed to the coup. In another conviction this week a military court in the northern province of Chiang Rai sentenced a man with a history of mental illness to five years in jail for lese majeste. Samak Pantay, 48, was found guilty on Thursday of slashing a portrait of the king and queen in July last year, lawyer Anon Numpa said. “He confessed to the charge so the judge commuted the sentence to five years,” he said, adding that Samak has been medically certified as mentally sick for “more than 10 years”. Thailand’s ultra-royalist generals have long used their self-appointed position as defenders of the monarchy to justify coups and political interventions in the country’s often turbulent politics. But both Thai and international media must heavily self-censor when covering lese majeste and the monarchy — even repeating details of charges of perceived defamation offences could mean breaking the law. Thai authorities rarely provide details of cases, leaving rights groups to follow prosecutions across the country. In April a businessman was jailed for 25 years for posting Facebook messages deemed to be defamatory to the monarchy in a ruling rights groups described as one of the harshest known. Thailand’s ruling military replaced martial law with new powers in April retaining much of the same authority but under the new orders civilians can now appeal to a higher tribunal for lese majeste crimes, though they are still tried at a military court.