Past News
The militants groups in the war-tone Niger-Delta region where the Nigeria’s oil reserves are situated have recently made allegation that some of the security operatives are a party to their illegal oil bunkering in the region.
Specifically, the allegation by the militants groups stated that the Nigerian Navy was on their pay-roll as far as illegal oil bunkering was concerned.

Following this, the Federal Government has warned that the Nigerian Navy need to correct that impression and ensure that they do everything possible to stop the bunkering and show to the world that they are not a party to it. This warning was issued by the Minister of Defense, Major General Godwin Abbe (rtd).

The Minister said that during interaction with some of the militants groups, they emphatically said illegal oil bunkering was done in conjunction with the Nigerian Navy.

“There are series of allegations here and there, series of stories all about the militants trying to divert attention. “The militants say they are smuggling oil because the Navy are on their same payroll and all those rubbish and I said I will mention it to you. Between now that the amnesty has started and onward, it is your business to use the little you have to stop the smuggling in the Niger Delta region. It is your business to make sure that you don’t allow anybody to throw any red oil on this your brilliant dress that you are wearing," he said.

17 Aug 2009
Following the much call for a total reactivation of Nigeria’s railway lines in the country, the federal government has agreed to meet with the railway experts from the United States of America on her railway lines rehabilitation.

Already, a team of railway construction experts from the US is presently in Nigeria to work out modalities that would assist the country to rehabilitate existing railway lines across the country, rather than embarking on new construction.

Experts in the field are of the view that the development would among others, go a long way in helping the Federal Government to reposition the railway system and reduce carnage on the roads.

The team was led to the Ilorin Terminus over the weekend by Mr. Jim Blaze, as part of effort to appraise the viability of the North Central Zone. The group has started the evaluation from Lagos axis and had visited Oyo and Ogun states in the South-West Nigeria.

Mr. Blaze after the tour of Ilorin terminus, said their mission in Nigeria was to determine estimate of materials needed to make the Nigerian Railway System work again. He said report of the assessment have been presented to the New Managing Director of the Nigeria Railway Corporation for onward submission to the federal government.

He said, "This report was submitted to the MD NRC’s desk hopefully, and he is expected to have some serious discussions with Nigeria’s political leaders on what should be done. The federal government will determine how fast we will move."

It has also been reported that the team who undertook the appraisal exercise of the rail system had so far shown that there are no supporting structures which is a prerequisite for a safe rail system. The group however said that how far the project would go would be determined by the Nigerian government.

The US team further assures that though the rails and tiles in the first 20 to 28 kilometers from Lagos to Abeokuta will be replaced completely because they are old, fatigued and fractured yet the entire rehabilitation would not be expensive to complete.

Although the team refused to mention the cost of the rehabilitation, the leader of the team, however, said, "I am not sure I want to tell you, because even a normal engineering contract could have a 30 to 40 per cent contingency fee, so the number I have in my head should really not be made public, because it might raise false expectations, but we are not talking about billions of dollars."

Past News
The opposition leaders in Nigeria under the auspices of the Mega Summit Movement (MSM) have concluded arrangement to hold a National Political Reform Summit otherwise known as National Summit on Democracy (NASDEM) on October 1, this year.
This development came up after the leaders of the movement went to the National Assembly last week to canvass support for the much demanded electoral reform. The proposal for the reform of the electoral matters in the country have been submitted some months back but the National Assembly is yet to decide on it.

The summit, according to MSM, would be an avenue to harmonize all the proposals and recommendations gathered in its consultations for popular political reform and the establishment of a formidable Peoples Mega Party.

The MSM represented by its Head of Secretariat, Chief Olu Falae, former head of state, Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), Chief Rasheed Shitta Bay, Mallam Sule Hamma, Chief Victor Umeh, Senator Sulaimon Salawu and Olawale Okunniyi, had attended the public hearing on constitution review organized by the House of Representatives last week to canvass unlimited electoral reform.

According to a statement yesterday by the Media and Publicity Coordinator of MSM, Alhaji Hamisu San Turaki, the planning committee of the Summit led by Prof Pat Utomi, who also contested for the Presidency in 2007 may have decided to recommend the October 1 date to the leadership of the MSM given the political significance of the date and also to prevent the event from clashing with the Muslim Ramadan fast.

According to Turaki, the group still enjoying its renewed alliance between the Presidential Candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2007 General Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice-President and Presidentia Candidate of Action Congress (AC) also in 2007 Atiku Abubakar, had also intensified talks with labour and civil societies for a mass rally on electoral reform.

He said the rally is scheduled for Abuja on a date the group would formally hand its private member’s bill to the National Assembly.

“Mega Summit Movement is leaving no stone unturned in its mobilization for political change in Nigeria and therefore will work with all stakeholders and groups genuinely committed to unlimited political reform in the country,” the statement said.

On the composition of Mega Summit on Democracy, Turaki said it would include eminent Nigerians, leaders of thought, elder statesmen, distinguished sectoral and constituency leaders, foremost scholars and academics.

Others, he said, would include delegates from all political parties in the country, civil society organizations and labour leaders, professional bodies, Nigerians in Diaspora, indigenous groups, political mass movements, artisan platforms, gender constituencies, women, youths and persons living with disabilities among others.

Past News
Nigeria’s President Umar Yar’adua assured the country’s teeming bank customers that their deposits are safe and secure and promise that the federal government would do everything possible to make sure no bank is distressed or allowed to go under.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had on Friday last week sack five banks’ chief executives over what the apex bank described as gross violation of the process of issuing loans by the banks. President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua said the action would lead to the sanitization of the nation’s banking sector and prevent fresh bank failures with their attendant negative effects on the national economy.

The president in a statement from the State House also assured all Nigerians that their deposits in Nigerian banks are safe as the Federal Government will continue to act in concert with the CBN to ensure that no bank is allowed to fail or become distressed.

He has already approved the injection of N420 billion into the five affected banks to ensure their continued viability and to be able to meet the demands of their respective depositors and to ensure that all necessary action are in place to ensure the stability and well-being of the country’s financial sector.

“Along with stricter supervision and regulation by the CBN, the Administration will continue to do whatever is necessary to guarantee the safety of deposits in Nigerian banks and entrench best corporate practices and better credit administration processes in the management of banks,” he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the President has directed all law enforcement agencies to give their fullest support to efforts by the new management teams of the five banks which have received bailout funds from the CBN to recover the huge loans, the non-servicing of which placed the banks at risk of distress.

Equally, the country’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been directed by the Presidency to ensure that all those that have collected loans from the banks are investigated and fully return the monies to the banks.

On the other hand, the new managing directors of the five banks whose management teams were axed over the weekend by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have assured their customers that they are ready to meet their respective obligations.

The CBN has, meanwhile, been working throughout the weekend, pulling all the stops to prevent a crisis of confidence in the affected banks as well as the entire industry. The apex bank has worked on key steps to protect the industry from systemic crisis in the aftermath of the shake-up in the banks.

The new chief executives of the five banks therefore said “We assure our customers that the safety of their deposits is in no doubt. Customers are requested to transact their normal businesses with the bank as the new management is committed to the safety of their deposits. We will continue to provide leading edge service delivery, which the Bank is known for.”

They also assured the banking public that there was no need to panic as the bank remains solvent with capacity to discharge its obligations to them. They added that the banks have no doubt grown to become a household name in the banking industry with rich history and culture of quality banking services.

August 5, 2009

Following the recent religious crisis in the North-eastern of Nigeria which resulted in the death of over 800 people, President Umaru musa Yar’Adua yesterday ordered his Chief Security Adviser to commence a probe into the death of religious sect ‘Boko Haram’ leader, Mohammed Yusuf, an incident that has raised questions of extra-judicial killing by security agents.
The order by the President also follows another revelation that comes from the security sources who alerted on the possible existence of a similar group opposed to Western education which according to the security has been traced to Niger State, another northern state. The state has shared boundary with the Nigeria’s capital Abuja.
The death of the Boko Haram sect leader, Yusuf was surrounded with controversy as there were conflicting reports regarding the circumstances that led to his death. While the police claimed he died in a shoot-out, a BBC photo of the sect leader in handcuffs proved he was taken alive and might have been slain by security agents. This was described by the Human Rights Groups as extra judicial killing and has already been condemned by many.
But President disclosed at the State House yesterday in Abuja that the National Security Adviser (NSA) had been directed to commence an investigation and submit the report before the end of the week, reiterating his government’s adherence to the Rule of Law. He hoped that the investigation will reveal the truth of the situation and expose the culprits.
“This is an incident that will be investigated together with all the events that have happened. Yesterday, I directed the NSA to carry out a post-mortem with the security agencies as a first step, so that we can have a full report of what happened during the crisis, including how the leader of Boko Haram was killed, the circumstances under which he was killed,” he added.
The president said the report would be examined and appropriate actions taken. Describing the incident as a “serious issue,” he stated that the report would determine if further investigation is needed.
Yar’Adua added: “I have been emphasizing since this administration came into power on our uncompromising stance on the rule of law. And everybody in this country, and all the officials, are aware, clearly and unambiguously of the stance of this administration on the rule of law and indeed my personal commitment and firm belief that it is rule of law that will anchor good governance and progress in this country.”
At the pick of the sectarian violence, President Yarádua went to Brazil on official trip. This move called for doubt from various quarters suspecting whether Yarádua is not serious about the country’s security. However, on his arrival back to the country, he met with all security agencies on the matter following which he ordered for the investigation. He stressed the importance of having the facts rather than acting impulsively.
Meanwhile, the name of the group that has been traced to Niger State cannot be immediately identified. However, a reliable security source disclosed that the joint security networks of the security agents are keeping tabs on members of this sect.

29 Aug 2009
A train with some 1,000 passengers on board has derailed in Cameroon's economic capital of Yaounde, leaving at least five people dead and 275 others wounded.

The incident came when the train, having set off from the northern town of Ngaoundere, went off its tracks early on Saturday.

Communications Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary put the casualties at five dead and 275 injured, but noted the death toll could increase as some of the wagons had crashed into ravines.

Bakary said that the cause of the accident was not yet known, adding that a rescue operation was searching for survivors or bodies.

A day earlier, flames engulfed a train carrying petroleum products in Yaounde after the 30-car freight train derailed.

The train's wagons which were carrying diesel burned in the blaze, which killed one person and badly injured another. It took firefighters four hours to stop the fire.

press tv

The son of the Libyan leader says Scotland's decision to release the Lockerbie bomber has opened the way for future business between Tripoli and Edinburgh.

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi's release "could put Lockerbie behind us," Muammar el-Qaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam, said in an interview with The Herald on Friday.

"We want to talk about business and oil and health and more productive projects. This is history."

He called for a clean slate in relations with the UK

Al-Megrahi, the 57-year-old convict who is a former Libyan intelligence officer, was sent home last week on compassionate ground given his terminal prostate cancer.

He was imprisoned in 2001 having been found guilty of the 1988 bombing of PanAm Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.

The Libyan leader's son said the release was decided on by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill and was irrelevant to a prisoner transfer deal (PTA) between Britain and Libya.

"They are two completely different animals. The Scottish authorities rejected the PTA. It did not work at all, therefore it was meaningless," he said.

"People should not get angry because we were talking about commerce or oil. We signed an oil deal at the same time."

International pressure, meanwhile, has been bearing on Scotland.

British Premier Gordon Brown has denounced the reception al-Megrahi received in Tripoli while FBI director Robert Mueller has blasted Scotland for releasing the Lockerbie bomber.

His freedom also triggered an uproar among the families of the 189 American victims. Families of some British victims, however, said they believed he was innocent.

Saif al-Islam, for his part, praised the Scottish justice secretary as "a great man."

"He made the right decision. So many of us think, including so many of the relatives of the victims, because Mr. Megrahi is innocent. One day, history will prove this."

presstv

28 Aug 2009
Failure of power-sharing talks in Madagascar has fueled fears of more political instability in the country despite agreement on minor government posts.

International negotiations meant to settle on the power crisis in the West Indian Ocean island nation of Madagascar closed inconclusively on Friday after African mediators announced that they have been unsuccessful to form an approved transitional administration.

"The international joint mediation team regrets to inform ... (that) the heads of the movements have found it impossible to come to a consensus on the key posts of the transition," AFP quoted the mediator's statement issued in Maputo, Mozambique after the mediation efforts intended to decide on top government jobs including the president, the prime minister and the vice-president remain unresolved.

The latest development comes in the wake of a Wednesday statement in which opposition leaders had agreed upon 70 percent of administrative positions in the government.

During earlier discussions, Madagascar's opposition leaders, the deposed Marc Ravalomanana and the incumbent President Andry Rajoelina, had along with former presidents Zafy and Didier Ratsiraka, agreed to hold elections by the turn of 2010.

They have also agreed to set September 4 as the final date to introduce a transitional government before the elections.

Rajoelina, who toppled Ravalomanana in a military-brokered coup earlier this year, has recently reignited controversies for his comments in which he had deemed himself as the sole leader capable of piloting the state through the current political crisis.

Uncertainties about the interim government have sparked concerns of new unrests in the country as Madagascan political rift deepens.


presstv

27 Aug 2009
Madagascar's ousted president, Marc Ravalomanana, has refused to endorse the leader of last March's coup as head of the new transitional government.

Stalled power-sharing talks in Mozambique were extended to Thursday with the former leader pledging to reject Andry Rajoelina's nomination, as the country tries to re-emerge from months of political crisis.

Mediators said Wednesday that while more than 70 percent of the key posts had been appointed by consensus, the nomination of the main three positions -- president, prime minister and vice-president -- remained deadlocked in a dispute.

Rajoelina, the 35-year-old ex-mayor of Antananarivo, has also not changed his presidency demand after toppling Ravalomanana following a series of deadly protests that started late January and finally erupted into a military-backed coup in March.

The meetings, attended by Ravalomanana, Rajoelina, and ex-presidents Didier Ratsiraka and Albert Zafy, began Tuesday in the Mozambican capital, Maputo, and where originally scheduled for two days.

Rival political parties signed a power-sharing agreement earlier this month to form a transitional government.

Under the regionally brokered deal, the residential elections are due to take place in 2010.

Rajoelina, who is six years younger than the current constitution's permitted age for presidency, says he has plans to call for constitutional amendments that would allow him to participate in the upcoming election.

presstv

OUAGADOUGOU, 28 August 2009 (IRIN) - The Burkina Faso government has shut down more than 20 health clinics that operated illegally in the capital Ouagadougou and is launching a nationwide campaign to eliminate any others, according to the Ministry of Health.

The country has more than 400 private health centres, half of which are based in the capital.

Prosper Djigmdé, the regional health director who oversees Ouagadougou medical facilities, told IRIN the government has sent a team to root out any clinics operating without licenses. “The quality of health care [in these clinics] is not guaranteed.”

Suzanne* told IRIN she barely survived a miscarriage after seeking care at a neighbourhood clinic that turned out to be illegal. “I was weak and could not go alone to the maternity ward or any hospital in town.” She lives in Prissy neighbourhood, 10km from the nation’s primary referral hospital located in Ouagadougou.

She said her brother took her to Yalgado Ouédraogo hospital after she nearly lost the use of her legs following what she said was a protracted illness. “At first I was getting better, but all of a sudden I started bleeding and losing consciousness.”

A doctor in the hospital’s maternity ward, Christian Darga, told IRIN some patients develop infections after receiving treatment in unlicensed clinics. “When patients arrive, we do not even ask them where they sought care because they will never tell where they have been before coming to the hospital.”

He said uterine cancers and pregnancy complications worsen while patients seek inappropriate care, often coming to the hospital only when it is too late.

“Most deaths happening here are patients who arrive terminally ill after they spend their money elsewhere,” Darga told IRIN.

Operators of illegal clinics may be licensed doctors, but do not employ licensed staff, said Théophile Tapsoba, chairman of the national association of doctors. “We have appealed to doctors to stop transforming their homes into medical hubs.”

But most of the time people illegally offering medical care are not licensed, Tapsoba added.

Gap-filler

Many are drawn to any place offering health care – regardless of licensure – because public health centres are overflowing, maternity ward doctor Darga said. “The clinics are warm, inviting [and] clean and patients do not have to sleep in the alley because of insufficient space, unlike the situation in some public health centres.”

Long waits and poor services lead patients to seek what can be dangerous care, said nurse Adama Korogo, who also works at Yalgado Ouédraogo hospital. “Most of the time patients have to wait up to four hours to see a doctor. And what can one nurse alone do to face 30 patients?”
''What can one nurse alone do to face 30 patients?''

Based on the most recent government statistics, Burkina Faso had one doctor for every 29,000 residents in 2005, about one-third the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation. The country has one nurse for every 7,800 residents versus WHO’s recommended threshold of 5,000.

Regional health director Djigmdé told IRIN the public health system is not meeting patient needs, which leaves a large gap for private licensed clinics to fill. “The government needs to make sure that the services at private clinics are of quality.”

Burkina Faso had 10 private clinics in the 1970s versus more than 300 in 1994, according to the country’s current health development plan. Though the average distance for residents to reach a public health centre is 10km, there are wide disparities across regions, according to the Health Ministry.

The ministry aims to build primary health centres in communities of at least 10,000 and within 10km of areas with fewer than 10,000 residents.

But finding workers for those centres will be another challenge, according to the health development plan. “On average 30 doctors, 15 pharmacists and some 800 paramedics graduate annually, which is insufficient for the Health Ministry’s needs, but budgetary constraints do not permit even employing those who are trained.”

irinnews

DAKAR, 27 August 2009 (IRIN) - In Chad oil wealth – poorly managed – has stoked conflict and corruption rather than boost the economy and living conditions, says a new briefing paper by International Crisis Group.

Oil exploitation has contributed to the deterioration of governance in Chad, and the government has progressively cut civil society out of the management of petrodollars, the paper says. “The government must work to establish a national consensus on the management of oil revenues,” ICG says, calling on Chad’s principal external partners – China, France and the United States – to “condition their support for the regime on such a consensus”.

Chad must reform its management of oil revenues – now used largely for paying cronies and building up the military – if it is to avoid further impoverishment and destabilization, ICG says.

The 1,070-kilometre Chad-Cameroon pipeline, which yielded its first oil in 2003, was hailed as a unique effort to make large-scale oil production a driver of sustainable development. Integral to the World Bank’s support of the project was a revenue management scheme that would provide social and economic benefits for the poor including future generations. Chad eventually scrapped the provisions and the World Bank pulled its support for the pipeline.

irinnews

ZIGUINCHOR, 26 August 2009 (IRIN) - Residents of Senegal’s Casamance region are shaken by some of the heaviest fighting in years between the army and alleged separatist troops, staying away from their plantations and closing shops before nightfall, residents and aid workers say.

On 25 August automatic weapon and rocket-propelled grenade fire was heard in the main city Ziguinchor from 9pm for about three hours, residents told IRIN. “It sounded as if it was just behind the walls of our home,” said a local NGO worker who requested anonymity “because the situation is delicate”.

“We have not seen fighting like this here since 2002," he said.

The clashes, between Senegalese soldiers and fighters thought to be with the Movement for the Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC), came four days after similar fighting took place some 10km south of Ziguinchor. Residents and local authorities told IRIN the earlier fighting forced scores of people to flee their homes; as of 26 August aid workers and authorities said it was not yet clear how many people had been displaced.

Casamance is the site of one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts, sparked when MFDC separatists launched a rebellion in 1982. The region – where agriculture is the main source of local income – has been gripped by sporadic violence as a definitive settlement has yet to be achieved. In recent months a spike in armed attacks on civilians prompted a government dusk-to-dawn curfew on major roads. Landmines have killed and injured hundreds of people since 1990.

Despite the dangers families have been gradually returning to their home villages where fighting drove them out some 20 years ago, desperate to return to their land.

“We are quite preoccupied about the current situation,” said Christina de Bruin, UN area security coordinator and head of the UN Children’s Fund sub-office in Ziguinchor. “Last night’s [25 August] incidents in the area of Diabir are quite alarming. This is an area just behind the Ziguinchor airport and only about 2km to 3km from the centre of town.”

She said the UN has temporarily reduced some of its movements in the south of Ziguinchor “until we have a better reading of the situation”.

Residents told IRIN fighters calling themselves MFDC warned people not to go to their fields around Ziguinchor.

“The fighters were in groups of five,” resident Ibrahima Goudiaby told IRIN. “They came and blocked all the exits from the neighbourhood, stealing [bicycles, mobile phones and identity papers] from residents and from people returning late from the fields.”


He added: “They told us not to go to our plantations because they will suspect us of being army informants. This jeopardizes our crops because we were just in the middle of turning the land and transplanting.”

The NGO worker said: “People are afraid. In some neighbourhoods shopkeepers are closing down early for fear of armed looting.” Many people in the region are observing the Muslim month of Ramadan when people fast from dawn to dusk.

Buildings of the University of Ziguinchor were hit by bullets and an explosive from a rocket-propelled grenade, according to university personnel and students.

Observers say the latest events underscore the need for a sound peace agreement that would bring permanent stability to the region. “These incidents point to the importance of negotiations to reach a definitive peace in Casamance,” the UN’s de Bruin said.

irinnews

JOHANNESBURG, 27 August 2009 (IRIN) - A suspected cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe's eastern province of Manicaland has proved a false alarm. About a dozen people reported suffering from cholera-like symptoms between 6 and 20 August in Chipinge district, about 300km southeast of the capital, Harare.

However, a report by the World Health Organization representative in Zimbabwe, Custodia Mandlhate, said "Samples taken from ... five cases tested negative for cholera."

A cholera outbreak that lasted nearly a year, claimed more than 4,000 lives and recorded nearly 100,000 cases of the waterborne disease was declared at an end in July 2009, but the conditions causing the epidemic - broken water and sanitation systems - have been keeping aid agencies on alert as infrastructure remains dilapidated and the disease is expected to return.

The cause of the diarrhoeal illness in Chipinge district was suspected as "severe food poisoning, as a number of the patients reported attending local beer parties prior to developing symptoms," Mandlhate noted.

"This is in agreement with a report from the District Nursing Officer and District Environmental Health Officer, who indicated that the patients seen had yellowish diarrhoea, or mucoid diarrhoea, and not whitish 'rice-water' diarrhoea consistent with cholera," the report commented.

Investigations into the cause of the illness are ongoing.

irinnews

JOHANNESBURG, 27 August 2009 (IRIN) - A new labour migration centre at the Beitbridge border crossing between Zimbabwe and South Africa will be the first step in implementing an agreement between the governments of Zimbabwe and South Africa to reduce irregular migration and promote safe, legal migration options.

The new centre, run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), was opened on 27 August, when the two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen cooperation and support in the fields of labour and employment.

Erin Foster, the IOM information and communication officer in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, said the pilot project would facilitate the temporary migration of seasonal workers to South Africa's northern Limpopo Province from three districts in Zimbabwe: Chiredzi, Masvingo and Beitbridge.

The goal of the project was "to reduce the dangers for migrants ... [and] limit the risks that exist for individuals". Zimbabwean job seekers – initially some 5,000 - would register with their local district labour centres, while South African farmers would register their labour requirements.

After a matching process run by the centre, workers will be issued with passports and work permits allowing them to travel for the duration of their contract.

"This development comes at a critical time when South Africa has announced a Special Dispensation Permit for Zimbabweans wanting to live and work in South Africa," An IOM statement said.

irinnews

NAIROBI, 27 August 2009 (IRIN) - Two months after food deliveries to Somalia's south-central town of Jowhar were halted, several thousand internally displaced persons (IDPs) are facing a food crisis, sources said.

"The little food we were given in June is gone; we have had nothing in the last two months," Asiyo Jilibey, a community leader, told IRIN on 27 August. "I don’t know what will happen next but if help does not arrive soon we are in trouble."

An estimated 9,000 IDP families (49,000 people), live mostly in seven camps in the town, 90km north of the capital, Mogadishu. The camps are Dayah, Kalagoye, Bada Cas, Baryare, Bulo Matuuni, Biyafo and Sheikh Omar Camp.

Jilibey said most of the IDPs had been in the camps since early 2007, when an upsurge in violence in Mogadishu sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing, "but we had a new influx in May, June and early July [2009]".

Food distributions were stopped in Jowhar after June due to insecurity, according to the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

"We last distributed 124.46MT of assorted food assistance to 8,190 Jowhar IDPs in June," Mahamud Hassan "Guled", a spokesman for WFP Somalia, said. "But due to the insecurity, our local partner could not distribute the planned July food rations to the IDPs and the situation remains the same this month."

The Islamist al-Shabab has been in control of Jowhar since May 2009. The group raided and looted UN offices there. Jowhar was the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) main hub for the southern and central regions of Somalia.

irinnews

HARGEISA, 28 August 2009 (IRIN) - Only nine years old, Ahmed Nour-Mohamed, from Ethiopia and living in Hargeisa, capital of secessionist Somaliland, has big plans – to make enough money from shoe-shining to take his father and siblings back home. Nour-Mohamed is one of dozens of Ethiopian children who have crossed into the Somaliland side of Tog-wajale town on the Ethiopia-Somalia border to undertake petty trade in Hargeisa. An immigration official based in Tog-wajale said children such as Nour-Mohamed were allowed to cross the border without question over their legal status "because they are children and they do not have travel documents". Nour-Mohamed spoke to IRIN on 26 August:

"I am the second-oldest child out of my five brothers and sisters. We live with our father in Sheedaha settlement in Tog-wajale but we are originally from Babuli [in Ethiopia's Oromo region].

"My mother died four months ago and since we did not have anything to eat, my father decided to bring us to Hargeisa; I used to go to school in Ethiopia but now I don't, I have started work as a shoe shiner.

"A big problem for me is that I do not speak enough Somali and I am often misunderstood by some of my customers. However, most of the time my friend, Mubarik, accompanies me and interprets for me as he speaks good Somali.

"When I started shining shoes, the stronger street children often took advantage of my small size and at times robbed me of all that I had made but I am now wiser, I have made friends who are also shoe-shiners and we look out for one another.

"I was robbed of all my earnings and polish by a street gang in Ida'ada district on 26 June and now I have decided to operate within Kodbur district of Hargeisa, which I believe is a little more secure than other parts of the city.

"On average, I earn about 10,000 Somaliland shillings [US$1.50] daily. I always take what I earn to my father who then saves it for us. Since my father collects food donations from our neighbours, we try to save as much as we can because our plan is to go back to Babuli where we originally lived."

irinnews

KINSHASA, 28 August 2009 (IRIN) - A mutiny over pay, by a section of the army in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Uvira territory, is restricting population movement and heightening fear, say officials.

Meanwhile, farther north, an escalation in attacks by Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels has prompted large-scale displacement.

The Congolese army (FARDC) is in Uvira, South Kivu Province, in an operation to oust Rwandan Hutu FDLR [Forces démocratiques pour la libération du Rwanda] militia there.

"It [the mutiny] was [caused by] some FARDC soldiers who were demanding their four-month salary arrears," Victor Chomachoma, the Uvira territory administrator, said.

"[They] were firing into the air the whole day [and] barricaded roads, preventing all [pedestrian and vehicle] movement on the Uvira-Kamanyola axis." The road goes to Bukavu, the main town in the province.

Chomachoma said the mutiny had forced the population to stay in their homes on 26 August.

Confirming the mutiny, the spokesman for the UN Mission in the DRC (MONUC), Lt. Col Jean-Paul Dietrich, said about 50 FARDC soldiers were involved.

The two said military authorities had convinced the mutineers to remove the blockades even if they had not been paid.

The mutiny has led to an increase in fear among residents already affected by ongoing anti-FDLR military operations.

Residents had to endure artillery fire on the night of 26 August following an FDLR attack on the village of Sange, 15km north of Uvira, he said.

The village of Nyakabere was also under fire on 25 August in an attack lasting 30 minutes, said Dietrich, adding that "two FARDC soldiers were injured and three FDLR militia killed. [The dead] were carried away by their fleeing colleagues."

"Three civilians, among them two girls, suffered bullet injuries. [Some] 53 houses were burnt by the FDLR, who also took away goats, sheep and cows,” Chomachoma said.

Farther north in Orientale Province, at least 125,000 people have been displaced in the past three weeks alone by LRA attacks in the district of Haut Uele, says the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

"A staggering 540,000 Congolese have been uprooted in Orientale by deadly LRA assaults since September 2008," UNHCR said in a 28 August statement.

During the same period, the rebels have reportedly killed some 1,270 people and abducted 655 children.

The attacks have caused about 8,000 Congolese to flee to neighbouring Southern Sudan and the Central African Republic. Of these, 6,500 are in the Western Equatoria region of Southern Sudan, where recent LRA attacks in the area of Ezo forced UN staff to evacuate.

Humanitarian agencies estimate that at least two million people have been displaced by anti-FDLR operations and FDLR counter-attacks since January in eastern DRC. This figure surpasses that during the 2006 civil war.

Recently, the DRC government said it would continue military operations against Rwandan militias in the eastern provinces until they were dislodged from Congolese soil.

irinnews

28 August 2009

Lagos — United States has deported about 63 Nigerians for allegedly being in possession of illegal firearm and residing in the country without legal documents, according to the country's Immigration Service Department.

The Nigerian deportees were brought into the country by a Boeing 737 with registration number N739mi, which landed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at about 11.15 am on Wednesday.

THISDAY learnt that the Nigerians were brought into the country from Miami, USA and they included Nigerians who had spent many years in the United States, and may not have visited Nigeria in the past 10 years.

Among the deportees were seven female and 56 male whose faces were grim, sad and wrinkled with rage and who kept mum during the exchange procedure with Nigeria Immigration Service.

Also reports confirmed that many of the Nigerians had spent many years in U.S. with the least spending only two years. About 80 per cent of the deportees were illegal immigrants who did not have valid documents.

One of them who refused to disclose his name said he was arrested while he was on his way to the market, but admitted that his documents that authorised him to live in U.S. had since expired.In addition, he also lost his job to the global economic meltdown about three months ago.

He also disclosed that he traveled to U.S. in 2004 when he could not secure a decent job in Nigeria.Many countries had become intolerant of illegal immigration due to the economic recession that is ravaging the world.

allafrica

28 August 2009

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday recovered N19 billion from bank debtors, while Ibadan-based businessman, Alhaji Azeez Arisekola, Chairman of Zenon Oil and Chief Executive of African Petroleum Plc (AP Plc), Mr Femi Otedola and first civilian Governor of Delta State, Chief Alex Ibru, all visited the commission's office in Lagos.

The commission also said that non of the detained 16 executive bank directors had met the bail conditions set by the Commission.

Confirming the development to Vanguard, EFCC's spokesman, Mr Femi Babafemi in a telephone chat said, "some of your colleagues (journalists) were at our office yesterday and they got up to date on latest recoveries by the commission and those who visited us".

He disclosed further that so far, about N19billion was recovered alone yesterday, while some other bank debtors, who visited the commission, promised to bring the money they are owing the affected five banks early next week.

He confirmed that Arisekola, Otedola and Ibru were at the commission's office and when asked if they were allowed to go, he said "we don't detain people. It is not our goal to keep people, once we attend to them, we allow them go. So one should not feel that we detain every body that comes to the commission".

On the detained bank executives, he said that any of the detainees that was able to meet the bail conditions would be released without further delay, adding that the aim of the Commission in relocating to Lagos in the past few days had been partially successful.

According to him, the Commission has been able to recover N10 billion for Union Bank as at yesterday, adding that the payment includes a N3 billion commitment by the Chairman, Ikeja Hotels, Mr Felix Ibru, who promise to pay the amount in two installments of N1billion as first installment and N2 billion as second installment.

Similarly, Mr Femi Otedola of Zenon Oil was said to have made a commitment of N4 billion, out of which N3 billion is to be paid to Union Bank, and N1 billion for Afribank as part of indebtedness to the banks. Babafemi said that about N3 billion was also recovered for Intercontinental Bank from an undisclosed debtors.

According to a source, "Arisekola, arrived the EFCC office at Awolowo Road, Ikoyi at exactly 11:35 a.m. decked in a white guinea brocade with a swagger stick". Arisekola, was chaufuer driven into the premise of the Anti-Graft Commission in a Mercedes Benz with Reg. No. AQ 03 BDJ.

The source added that he refused to say what he came to the commission to do, but the source pointing out that the visit might not be unconnected with the N5 billion his company, Lister Oil Limited, is owing Intercontinental Bank Plc.

Otedola on his part, arrived at about 10am. and also declined to speak to journalists. He went into the EFCC office, carrying some documents. Otedola's oil company, Zenon Oil, is said to be indebted to Union Bank to the tune of N6.2 Billion.

The commission it will be recalled had following the sack by Central Bank of Nigeria of the board and Managing Director of five banks, namely Intercontinental Bank Plc, Finbank Plc, Afribank Plc, Oceanic Bank Plc and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc, issued the debtors to the effected banks, a seven-day ultimatum to pay up or face prosecution.

And with the expiration of the ultimatum, some of the bank debtors have been trooping to the commission to deposit whatever they could put together.Meanwhile, counsel to Mr Cecilia Ibru, Chief Adeniyi Akintola, said that it was unacceptable for the Commission to detain his client perpetually in its cell beyond 48 hours, saying that the action amounted to a disregard to court orders that ordered otherwise.

He said, "the state of her health was brought to the attention of the Commission but that it received no sympathetic consideration, rather, was she got was a bail conditions that is strange and alien to the 1999 constitution."Akintola, however, warned that if the demands of his client were not met within a reasonable time, we have no other option than to go tocourt against the Commission, with all the attendant embarrassment.

We want to pay, debtors of safe banks cry out

IN apparent bid to avoid their names being included in the second list of bank debtors by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), debtors have started trooping to banks to restructure their loans.

Bankers who confirmed this to Saturday Vanguard said that most of the debtors have started coming by themselves asking for repayment plan or asking that their loans be restructured. The debtors also begged their banks not to de-categorize their loans as non-performing loansIt would be recalled that the CBN had said that it would publish another list which would contain all bank debtors whose loan is non-performing.

Throughout last week the apex bank worked on the expected debtors list asking the banks to verify the status of all their non-performing loans.

A branch manager in one of the big banks said that the debtors don't want to see their names published as bank debtors and so they have been coming to the bank requesting for repayment plan. "Some however appealed for restructuring of their loans with the promise to pay the accruing interest rate. These are people that you usually run after to discuss their loan and when they are going to pay back".

Head of Risk Management in another bank told SaturdayVanguard that the debtors have indicated willingness to repay the loans but the economy is not doing well and this is affecting their businesses hence the appeal to banks for loan restructuring.

Meanwhile, Saturday Vanguard investigations revealed that with this development banks are revisiting cases of bad loans that have long been closed. Some of these loan have been written off more that three years ago.

These debtors have money they just decided not to pay because they are influential or connected to board members. But now that the CBN has asked us to submit the names of debtors with non-performing loans.We have asked them to repay otherwise we would include their names as non-performing debtors, a banker said.

Last week, in order to avoid the mistake and errors associated with the first debtors list the CBN ordered all the banks to verify their debtors list.

CBN spokesman, Deputy Director, Corporate Affairs, Alhaji M.M Abdulahi confirmed this to Vanguard yesterday saying to ensure accuracy of the information in the lists the CBN is working with the banks to verify the names and the amount owed by each debtor. "We have asked them to verify all the names and ensure they are accurately spelt and that the value of the loans are accurate and up to date," He said.

It would be recalled two weeks ago the apex bank released the list of individuals and corporate bodies owing the five banks, whose loan is not performing. But the generated controversy as the debtors faulted the list. Some of them denied owing the banks while others faulted the value of the loan published against their names.

Others denied having any relationship with the companies against which their names were listed as directors. Consequently the CBN issued an advertorial where it apologised for the typographical errors.

Cecilia Ibru challenges bail condition, threaten court action if ...

Former Managing Director of the Oceanic Bank PLC, Mrs Cecilia Ibru has criticized her continued detention in the custody of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Lagos without any charge preferred against her by the anti graft commission.

In the petition to the Chairman of EFCC, Mrs Farida Waziri, which was copied to the NBA, Mrs Ibru also challenged the N1 billion and the production of a serving minister as bail conditions imposed on her by the anti graft agency describing it as " condition that is strange and alien to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and other extant laws of the country."

The petition written by her lawyers and signed by Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN) condemned the manner in which the operatives of the EFCC are handling the case, stating that they have disregarded the subsisting order of an high court, granted Ibru to enforce her fundamental rights against the commission.

Lamenting the worrisome and deteriorating health condition of Ibru, the lawyers cautioned that if she is not released urgently, they will be forced to return to court to compel her release from custody, without delay.

The letter read in part that "Dr. (Mrs.) C. Ibru (OFR) is our client who reported to your office on Wednesday, 26th August, 2009 from her hospital bed on your invitation. Since her said report, she has been held in your Commission's custody without any charge preferred aga\inst her and without her being granted bail to go home in spite of her failing health.

"The state of her health was brought to the attention of your Commission through a medical report but same received no sympathetic consideration. Rather, what she got was a bail condition that is strange and alien to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and other extant laws of the country.

"Suffice it to say that our client had earlier sought and obtained an order of a Court of competent jurisdiction to enforce her fundamental human rights against your Commission, the Police and other security agencies on 25th August, 2009 in Suit M/671/09 which was served on your Commission on 26th August, 2007.

Copy of the said order which speaks for itself and the affidavit of service are attached herewith for ease of reference. Respect for the rule of law in all its ramifications is sine-qua-non to the right against all ills of the society and we dare say that no resort of jack-book tactics in fighting same has ever succeeded in any part of the world.

"It is rather unfortunate that years after, your Commission hd been upbraided over this illegal act, it has found it expedient to go back to the unconstitutional act of asking our client to produce a bond of N1 billion and a serving Minister as a surety. These are conditions which no Court of competent jurisdiction will impose on any suspect.

"We however wish to demand that your Commission should operate within the ambit of the law setting it up and most importantly the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, respect the orders of the Court and their rulings by allowing our client to go home on bail on constitutionally recognised conditions or in the alternative charge her to Court within 24 hours as stipulated under the provisions of Section 35 of the Constitution.

The idea of holding a suspect first before investigating a crime is not part of our law and is alien to the country's Constitution. This was made clear in the attached Court order. This demand you will agree is not too much for us to make and certainly not too much for you to meet."

He said if the demands contained in the letter are not met within a reasonable time, "we would have no option that to return to Court against your Commission with all the attendant embarrassment." The counsel noted that the idea of holding suspects first before investigating a crime "is not part of our law and is alien to the country's constitution."

allafrica

28 August 2009

Militants in Rivers state are embracing the presidential amnesty. No fewer than eighty have so far gone for it. Some of them are Solomon Degbara a.k.a Osama Bin Laden, Soboma George and their boys.

According to a police source, even some youths that had been declared wanted for robbery operations have joined the long list of those showing up for the amnesty.

Solomon Degbara who prefers now to be addressed as Brother Solomon instead of his sobriquet, Osama Bin Laden, was virtually the leader of militant/brigandage groups in the whole of Ogoni part of Rivers state, an area that has had its own share of tension and crisis in the region. Kidnapping before now was a common feature in the area.

The Vice Chancellor of the state University of Science and Technology, Prof B.B. Fakae was among the numerous guests of hostage takers apparently led by the repentant militant leader, Solomon, in Ogoni area. The area also at a time experienced severe cult clashes among rival groups that resulted in the death of hundreds of promising youths in their prime.

Cult groups like Deebam and Dewell were very visible elements in communities like Bodo, Gokana local government and several other parts of Ogoni. Clashes between these cult groups in 2006 were very rampant. This sad situation even continued beyond the foregoing year. Strangely, calm seems to have returned to the Ogoni part of the state since the peace drive by the federal government in the region came on board.

Brother Solomon as he now prefers to be called was the first to embrace the amnesty in the state. He came out with his arms and ammunition a day after the federal government granted the presidential pardon to militants in the region.

And on hand to receive him at his Gokana community was the former Inspector General of Police, (then he was IG), Mr. Mike Okiro who led other principal security operatives to the area.

In a chat with the SaturdayVanguard on phone recently Solomon assured that nothing would make him go back to militancy.

After Solomon surrendered it was like no other militant in the state was willing to key into the project. This situation prevailed for some time and even caused many to think then that the amnesty was becoming a failure in the state until three Fridays ago when what could be described as a big fish in the circle of militants in the state, Soboma George turned in his riffles at a discreet ceremony in Port Harcourt .

Soboma George who is one of the frontline Commanders of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND) led twenty other reformed militants to the ceremony at the office of the State Security Service. In attendance were the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Mr. Timi Alaibe and members of the Amnesty implementation Committee led by its national Coordinator, Air Vice Marshall Lucky Ararile. At the ceremony Soboma surrendered about forty rifles and four GPMGs (general purpose machine guns) and he promised never to go back to militancy again.

Soboma George until he repented was at the top of militancy in the Kalabari speaking part of Rivers state and some parts of Port Harcourt like Town, etc. He was reportedly the second in command to Ateke Tom before they parted ways.

And he went to float what later became known as Outlaws, a dreaded cult group in the state. He was arrested for sundry charges and kept in prison custody around 2004. In the bid to secure his release his loyalists reportedly organized a jail brake at the Port Harcourt prisons which saw his escape in 2005.

After the jail brake he went under ground for sometime. Meanwhile, Soboma it would also be recalled was arrested for alleged traffic offence at Hospital road in Port Harcourt on his way back from church in 2007. While being quizzed at the central police station in Town, hundreds of his followers, including ladies, stormed the streets of Port Harcourt that day with sophisticated riffles shooting sporadically.

And marching towards the Central Police station in Town, where he was detained. After forcefully setting him free they flung the gates of all the cells in the station open for other inmates to also flee.

Some persons who spoke to the Vanguard on Soboma George described him as a cat with nine lives. They said he should no doubt be grateful to his creator for sparing his life. They recalled in 2008 how hundreds of soldiers deployed to arrest him dead or alive missed him at his Marine base abode in Port Harcourt . "It was by whiskers. It was a narrow escape for him that day.

Though rumors went round Port Harcourt then that it was one of the top ogas of the soldiers that alerted him of the move that was why they missed him nevertheless he should be very grateful to his God", Miebaka John said.

The military invasion of his neighborhood that day reportedly claimed several lives. It was a combination of aerial and land attack by the soldiers.

At the surrender ceremony that Friday night at the SSS office in Port Harcourt, Soboma said he too had quit militancy for good. He however urged the federal government to take practical steps to address challenges in the region, adding also that the state government should beat a retreat from its planned demolition of water fronts in Port Harcourt .

Ateke Tom though yet to embrace the amnesty but sources very close to him said he would do

According to them, his greatest worry at the moment centered on how safe his life could be with Rotimi Amaechi as governor of his state. The source accused the governor of "waging a war against the militant leader". For instance the source queried why the governor had to issue a statement urging Nigerians to ignore the militant leader when he spoke through his lawyer that he was ready to embrace the amnesty. "These are some of the fears. But I am sure Ateke Tom will like to embrace the amnesty", the source said.

Meanwhile, commenting on the allegation that Ateke would not be safe in Rivers state as a repentant militant, the acting Chief Press secretary to the governor, Mr. Blessing Wekina said the governor had no personal grouse with any of the militants in the state.

He said the governor had made it very clear in different fora that he was ready to receive any genuinely repentant militant. "Since the amnesty is for peace the governor is disposed to it", he said. Farah Dagogo is another name in the circle of militants in the state. At the moment he is not so loud. So nothing seems to be coming from his end.

Another militant leader that is also very ready to embrace the amnesty is Sobomabo Jack Reece aka Egberipapa. He is currently cooling off in the custody of the JTF. He was picked up at the palace of the Amayanabo of Kalabari, Buguma in Rivers state some months ago when he showed up for an alleged peace meeting slated for the venue.

In spite of the seeming success of the amnesty programme in the state minds are still agitated, there is fear that amnesty is not the magic wand for peace in the state and the region. Some who spoke to the Vanguard expressed worries particular with the elections ahead. For them what today has become militancy was largely a creation of the political class. They recalled that some of these guys started as private armies of the politicians and were used to prosecute their political battles.

allafrica