2015 ELECTION: ORJI UZOR KALU, DECRIED ATTEMPT TO DESTABILIZE THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE COUNTRY

Orji Kalu

Former Abia State governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, yesterday decried what he called heightened attempts to destabilize the Southern half of the country all in the bid to snatch the Presidency in 2015.

In a statement signed by Emeka Obasi, Special Adviser on Media to Dr. Orji Kalu, he said: “Recent events tend to suggest that someone is trying to set Yoruba against Igbo.

“They do not want the much expected handshake across the Niger. But we will scatter such permutations.”

The ex-governor explained further: “You could see the signs. The moment Asiwaju Bola Tinubu travelled out of the country for medicals, some Nigerians from the South-East and South-South were deported to Onitsha.

While Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola was performing his late father’s burial rites, some government officials went to embarrass the bereaved by sealing my property in Ikoyi. I guess there are Fifth columnists at work.”

Kalu said the Igbo and Yoruba had come a long way, insisting that it would take more than the politics of 2015 to divide them.

“You cannot ignore the attachment. The first indigenous Governor-General, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe had as Aide-de-Camp in 1963, a young Yoruba naval officer, Michael Adelanwa. The first Igbo governor, Sir Akanu Ibiam, did not only marry from the West, he once had an ADC named Benjamin Adekunle from Ogbomosho.”

“You can also count on the Yoruba. Col.Adekunle Fajuyi chose to die with Ironsi in 1966, stripped and tied to a palm tree at Olodo on the Ibadan-Iwo Road.

The man, who trained Biafran officers during the civil war, was Major Ganiyu Adeleke. There is Segun Martins who chose Rangers above Shooting Stars and moved to Enugu as Camp Commandant,” he said.

To prove that the famous handshake would work, Kalu made more revelations. “With notable men like Chief Emeka Anyaoku, Igwe Chukwuemeka Ike and Igwe Alex Nwokedi, all married fromYoruba land, you cannot talk about hate.

“It is impossible for Senator Isiaka Adeleke not to eat in his Abia maternal home or the comedian, Adebayo Ajibola (Holy Malam) to deport his wife, Ijeoma (Holy Mata).We can also learn from ex-naval officer, Dr. Akin Olowookere, there is neither Yoruba nor Igbo in his home. It is one love.”  - The SUN

LAND GRABBERS (Omoniles) BEAT ARCHITECT TO DEATH OVER N 5,000

 When Eniola Kiyesola left home for work on August 18, 2013, he bade his wife and three children farewell, saying he would return after the day’s work.

This was, however, not to be as the 36-year-old man was beaten to death by land grabbers popularly known as 'Omonile' few hours after he left his house.

According to PUNCH Metro Kiyesola was said to have gone to a construction site to supervise an ongoing work when about five land grabbers stormed the site.

The culprits were said to have demanded N5, 000 from Kiyesola, adding that if he did not pay them, they would prevent labourers from working.

A relative of the deceased, Mr Sola Solebo, said, “On that day, Kiyesola went to supervise construction at the site.

“After sometime, about five hoodlums from Omo Ebi Bagidan Village, led by one Babu and Kazeem, stormed the site and demanded money.

“Kiyesola reminded them that the owner of the property had given them money when the foundation of the building was being laid.

“The land grabbers then demanded N5, 000 so that they would leave. However, Kiyesola told them that he could not give them any money and told them to come back when the owner of the property was around.

“There was an exchange of words and the hoodlums picked up iron rods and beat him up.”

A labourer, Yusuf Olatundun, who claimed to be an eyewitness, said the culprits beat Kiyesola for over an hour.

Olatundun, a bricklayer, said, “About 15 of us were working on the site when those land grabbers came. The land grabbers said they had an axe to grind with the architect. Some of us rushed to Ijede Police Division to report the matter.

“After beating Kiyesola for over an hour, he collapsed. When he became unconscious, the guys fled. When the police arrived we rushed Kiyesola to General Hospital, Ijede where he was confirmed dead.”

PUNCH Metro learnt that the traditional leader of Omo Ebi Bagidan Village, Sunday Basorun, who was alleged to have employed the culprits to collect land dues for him, had been arrested.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, said, “The matter has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Yaba.”

Braide added that efforts were on to arrest the fleeing culprits.

STOWAWAY BOY THOUGHT ARIK PLANE WAS US-BOUND

Pix 1: A teenage boy, Daniel Ihekina, who hid in the Tyre hole of   Arik Air flying from Benin to Lagos. Pix 2: The boy being led away by security agents.

THE teenage stowaway, Daniel Ihekina, who was arrested at the Lagos Airport after flying in the tyre hole of an Arik plane from Benin to Lagos on Saturday morning, thought he was on a US-bound flight.

A source at the Benin Airport who disclosed this said the boy’s parents had already departed for Lagos in search of the stowaway.

The airport source, who did not want his name in print said, “From what we heard, the boy said he was being maltreated and tried to escape from his parents. He thought he was on his way to the US.

“The parents have travelled to Lagos by road, to get him back.”

Meanwhile, investigations conducted by one of our correspondents in Lagos revealed that the boy had been handed over to the operatives of the State Security Services for further investigation.

The General Manager, Corporate Communications, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. Yakubu Dati, who also confirmed the development, said the aviation security personnel of the agency had handed over the young voyager to the men of the SSS for extensive investigation.

Dati said, “The residential address the boy gave to us was traced to a church in Benin by our airport manager and his team. So, there is need to hand over the teenager to the SSS who are experts in such investigations. They will carry out further investigation on the matter.”

The FAAN spokesman said the nature and circumstances surrounding the crime informed the agency decision to hand over the stowaway to the SSS operatives.

Meanwhile, following the Benin Airport incident, FAAN has adopted the ‘risk amelioration processes to safeguard flight operations’ at all its 22 airports across the country.

Dati stressed that the agency had tightened its risk amelioration procedure to ensure that similar incident did not occur again.

He also said the agency had prioritized the perimeter fencing of all the 22 airports in the country.

“In the meantime, we have adopted risk amelioration processes to safeguard flight operations. As a result of this incident in Benin, we have further tightened our risk amelioration procedure to ensure that a similar incident does not occur,” he said.

However, FAAN has also continued to trade blame with Arik Air over the Benin incident.

The agency, in a statement on Sunday, said it read with “great dismay the statement released by Arik Airlines about the stowaway found on board Arik’s flight 544 from Benin to Lagos on Saturday 24 August, 2013.”

Dati said FAAN was “unfairly indicted” while the airline took no responsibility whatsoever for such a “serious security breach.”

FAAN said its preliminary investigation had revealed that Arik did not give accurate account of the Benin Airport incident.

Giving the accounts of its preliminary findings, FAAN said, “Our investigations reveal that a passenger on board the flight called the attention of the cabin crew while the aircraft was waiting to take off at the threshold of the runway, to the effect that they had seen a young boy walk under the aircraft and had not seen him re-appear on the other side.”

“The cabin crew in turn informed the pilots in the cockpit about this. The pilots called the control tower and asked them to request FAAN to do a sweep of the area after their departure, opting to carry on with their flight despite the report.”

“Upon the arrival of the aircraft in Lagos, we were informed that there had been a stowaway found alive alighting from the wheel well of the aircraft. While FAAN takes this security breach extremely seriously, we deem Arik’s attempt at indicting and smearing FAAN as irresponsible. Safety and security breaches occur when all the checks in the system are beaten.  Given that security is a responsibility for all players in this industry, a critical last opportunity to detect and prevent this stowaway was offered and had the airline taken the information by passengers as seriously as they should have, this incident would have been avoided.”                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                    -PUNCH

STRANDED BOKO HARAM MEMBERS TURN HUMAN EATERS IN BORNO - Suspect

Dozens of suspected Boko Haram militants in Magumeri forest, Borno, have turned to human eaters after being stranded for days without food or water.

Magumeri forest is about 150 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital.

Mallam Momodu Bukar, a suspected militant, told newsmen on Saturday in Maiduguri that he fled the camp at the forest on Thursday when it became obvious that he was going to be eaten.

“I thank God that I escaped because I would have been slaughtered by now to provide meal for my colleagues at the camp,” Bukar said.

The suspected militant was captured by a Youth Vigilante Group, popularly known as the civilian JTF at Baga Road motor park, Maiduguri, on Friday..

He said the militants had been in the forest since May, when they were dislodged from Marte, Marte Local Government Area, by the Joint Task Force (JTF) on Operation Restore Order (ORO) after the declaration of the State of Emergency.

“Our group, consisting of about 300 well armed combatants, headed for Magumeri on the orders of the sect leader, Abubakar Shekau, shortly before the military took over Marte Camp.

“We have been wandering in the forest. We have exhausted our food and water supply, and so, everybody became hungry,” Bukar said.

He also said that they lost contact with Shekau due to the closure of GSM services by the Defence Headquarters.

“It all started last Monday when three of the combatants in camp died of acute hunger, and it became obvious that all of us will die if action was not taken.

“The leader of the group, Abu Omar, directed that a non combatant member be slaughtered to provide meal for the rest.

“The meat provided meal for the combatant for just two days and another person was killed in the same manner on Wednesday.

“So, it became certain that I might be the next person since I am also a non-combatant member.”

Bukar said he escaped after volunteering to help search for drinking water for the group in a nearby village.

“I left the camp on Thursday evening after agreeing to fetch water from the village.

“After leaving the camp, I started running until I arrived at Magumeri town, so, I slept in the motor park before boarding a vehicle to Maiduguri with the little money on me.” he said.

Bukar said that he was apprehended immediately he arrived at the motor park in Maiduguri by the youth vigilante group.

Commenting, an official of the vigilante group, Mallam Ajid Asheik, said the suspect would be handed to the Joint Task Force (JTF) on Operation Restore Order (ORO) for investigation.(NAN)

BURY YOUR PRESIDENTIAL AMBITION – Ex-militants to Northern Leaders

 

Ex militants in the Niger Delta yesterday urged the Northern political leaders to bury their ambition over 2015 presidential polls and instead support President Goodluck Jonathan to fulfill his developmental blueprint for the entire country.

They specifically called on the Nigerian voting public to be weary of those they term  ”expired leaders” who are masquerading as progressives..

The ex-militants under the aegis of Third Phase Amnesty Camps Committee (TPACC) declared that the Northern leaders for now have no business eyeing Aso Rock. “They should wait until 2019 after Jonathan had completed his second term.”

Speaking in Yenagoa at the end of their meeting, the chairman of the group,  Preye John aka, Gbikigbiki said President Jonathan had done creditably well in spite of the security challenges caused by the Boko Haram insurgency and as such deserved a second tenure.

“The northern leaders should bury their face in shame for the country’s woes having ruled for more than 35 years,” he said and urged those spoiling for war to put Nigeria above their personal interest.

“The South has over the years supported the North and this is the time for the North to support the South,” he said adding that ex-militants would soon embarked on a peaceful rally in the nations capital to rally support for Jonathan to contest the 2015.

On the newly registered APC, he said, “the party is no threat to Jonathan or the PDP.” ....VANGUARD