May 1, 2012 – eaglepacks

•The Outrider, Police Corporal Usman Suleiman, in the theatre after the explosion … yesterday
-Blast injures 20 -President: don’t be discouraged
Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, was yesterday rocked by an early morning blast – its first experience since the Boko Haram crisis began.
No fewer than 11 persons were killed in the suicide bombing.
The convoy of the Commissioner of Police, Mr Mamman Sule, appeared to have been the target of the attack, which took place around 8.30a.m.
No group has, however, claimed responsibility for the explosion, which sent the city to sleep as soon as it woke up for the day’s activities.
The bombing took place in front of the premises of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP), beside the Ministry of Finance.
The suspected bomber rode on a motorcycle and forced his way into the convoy of the police chief. “Before he could be intercepted, there was a heavy bang,” an eye-witness said.
The bomber waited at the road side for an hour, timing when the police commissioner would pass, another eye-witness said.
The bomber was blown up. Among the casualties were an unidentified person, and an employee of the Ministry of Finance, Mr. Titus Nuhu.
Sources said Nuhu, who worked in the Accounts Department, had alighted on a motorcycle to cross over to his when the blast occurred. Pieces of his remains were picked from the street.
The Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jalingo, where the deceased and the injured persons were taken, was crowded.
The Medical Director (MD), Dr. Wiza Inusa, said the condition of 11 injured persons was relatively stable. “But four persons are in a critical condition,” he added.
Police Corporal Usman Suleiman is among those in critical condition. Suleiman was the Outrider in the commissioner’s convoy. He was groaning in pains when The Nation visited the hospital’s theatre. His left eye had been damaged by the explosion. There were wounds on his abdomen, laps and legs were injured.
The front wind shield of the police commissioner’s official car was damaged.
The wall-fence of the NUP collapsed during the explosion, which shook near-by buildings, including Kataps and Associates Chambers, located a few metres from the scene of the blast. The chambers, which belongs to the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Gibbons Kataps, also had its window glasses and ceilings shattered. Seats and tables were upturned.
The road-side blast also pounded the branches of the economic trees in the area. There was panic in the town. Business and social activities were paralysed.
But Sule denied he was the target. He said: “I am not the target. Definitely, I am not the target at all.”
Sule had just been redeployed to Taraba from Yobe State, which has been rocked by multiple blasts recently.
He said bomb experts were invited to inspect the scene.
The suicide bombing was the first in Taraba, since Boko Haram (western education is sin) began its violence.
Acting Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar insists that the police have done more in the effort to curb the Boko Haram insurgency.
He also disagreed that the Taraba blast was targeted at the Commissioner of Police.
Abubakar was at the State House alongside the Minister of Police Affairs, Captain Caleb Olubolade (rtd), to brief Vice President Namadi Sambo on the Taraba incident.
Abubakar told reporters: “Yes, we are doing something, as you can see. You cannot compare the situation before we came on board and now.”
“My CP was not the target. It was placed on the road and it exploded; nothing has happened to the commissioner and we have made arrests,” he added.
Mr Umar Waziri, the Red Cross Information Coordinator in Taraba, confirmed that 11 people died in the bomb attack.
“We can confirm that 11 people were killed. Ten people died on the spot; one person died at the Federal Medical Centre in Jalingo,” Waziri told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He said 20 others injured by the blast had been taken to various medical centres in the city.
Sule said the police had only confirmed the death of three persons from the attack.
Sule said he escaped death “by whiskers”.
“The explosives hit the official car I was riding in and shattered the windscreen and front bumpers but I escaped unhurt,’’ he said.
The police commissioner said he was on his way to the office when the bomber struck, just when he entered the ministry’s premises, which was adjacent to the Taraba police headquarters.

Posted on May 1, 2012 by eaglepacks

Soyinka urges Nigerians to prepare for subsidy scam protest – Emmanuel Oladesu, (The Nation)

Prof. Wole Soyinka

•SNG calls for prosecution of culprits
Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka yesterday urged Nigerians to prepare for a massive demonstration against the fuel subsidy scam.
The literary icon noted that the petrol subsidy saga has brought global embarrassment to Nigeria.
The eminent scholar advised the anti-graft agencies – the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) – to prosecute those involved in the scam.
Soyinka said: “The populace should be ready for another determined march against corruption. The level of thievery is not unrelated to the level of violence we witness today.”
The former university don spoke in Lagos at a media briefing organised by the Save Nigeria Group (SNG), led by its Convener, Pastor Tunde Bakare. At the event were the leader of the Campaign for Democracy (CD), Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, SNG spokesman Yinka Odumakin.
Bakare, who reviewed the House of Representatives probe on the subsidy scam, noted that “the crisis in the oil industry is not about subsidy but about corruption”.
He noted that government officials flouted the guidelines for fuel importation by reeling out controversial figures to deceive Nigerians.
The preacher said the N3trillion reportedly spent on subsidy last year was questionable, adding that big money was deliberately stolen in the name of subsidy.
The SNG Convener queried the discrepancy between the figures tendered by the Accountant-General of the Federation and the committee, saying two-thirds of the appropriation for this year was stolen by government officials last year.
Bakare said companies involved in fuel importation and unpatriotic auditors are culpable in the scam, adding that they are guilty of economic sabotage and corruption.
According to him, the House of Representatives has endeared itself to Nigerians by proceeding with the probe of the scam.
He said the probe has shown that the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) denied the receipt of the money allegedly paid by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Bakare said those perpetrating fraud in the NNPC should be unmasked.
He added: “The clearance of Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwanbo, who was the Accountant-General of the Federation in 2009 and who was alleged to have issued cheques of N999million in 128 places in 24 hours – totalling N127 billion – raises another serious matter.
“Passing the buck to the PPPRA does not answer the issue. The impression this gives is that the governor may have been exonerated in a deal to ensure that he does spill the beans, if push comes to shove. These double payments must be traced and the nation must know where the money ended”.

Bakare said the investigation should be comprehensive, emphasising that the ministers of Finance and Petroleum, who served during the period of the scam, should be prosecuted. He said since President Goodluck Jonathan claimed ignorance about the circumstances surrounding the scam, he is unfit for the highest office in the land.
The cleric added: “The country has been stolen broke by mindless looting. The states are yet to receive their allocations for March. It portends great problem for the economy.
Bakare warned that rolling out tanks by government at the Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, was meaningless, stressing that that venue is not the only area of protest.
He stressed: “Given the low confidence the people have in the anti-corruption agencies in dealing with political corruption in Nigeria, we are demanding the appointment of a private prosecutor to deal with these prosecutions.

“The counsel to be so appointed must be a man or woman of proven integrity with a team of lawyers recommended by the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) working with such private prosecutor. Civil siciety organisations should be allowed to appoint their own counsel as observers”.
Soyinka, who said he was overwhelmed by the disclosures, chided the government for insensitivity to the plight of the public. He declared that the current administration has disdain and contempt for Nigerians.
He said: “When you are robbed in this way, you are dehumanised with insults and arrogance. There is a material assault on the resources of Nigeria”.
Soyinka said the populace should be ready for another determined march against corruption, insisting that those found culpable in the scam should be probed and brought to book.
He said Nigerians who travel abroad are alarmed at the report of criminality and lack of conscience in Nigeria.
He warned anti-graft agencies to learn from the Ibori saga by doing a thorough work to avoid ridicule and making Nigeria a laughing stock in the international community.
Urging Nigerians to be vigilant, Soyinka added: “Nigerians must be prepared to prepare to march and halt the trend of corruption”.
Dr. Okei-Odumakin decried how corruption has killed the nation and caused the collapse of infrastructure, wobbling health sector and high mortality rate.
She added: “Nobody is above the law. The ministers of finance and petroleum who served during the period of the scam should be prosecuted and brought to book.”

Posted on May 1, 2012 by eaglepacks

N11bn loan: Saraki shows up at Abuja SFU office

A former governor of Kwara State, now senator representing Kwara Central senatorial district, Dr Bukola Saraki, has honoured the invitation extended to him by the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) of the Nigeria Police.

But instead of doing so at the Lagos office of the SFU, which issued the invitation, Saraki went to its Abuja office.

Though details of what transpired when the former governor visited on Monday were still sketchy at press time, it was learnt that the officers in Abuja told him he was actually to report in Lagos.

Saraki was invited by the SFU to clarify his involvement in an N11 billion loan taken from Intercontinental Bank by a company in which he has interests.

The loan, over which a former Managing Direcotr of the bank, Lai Alabi, has been quizzed, was believed to have been diverted to other purposes, including purchase of choice buildings in Ikoyi and Victoria Island, Lagos.

Posted on May 1, 2012 by eaglepacks

Wenger thrilled to land ‘top class’ Podolski – The Independent

Arsenal yesterday confirmed their first signing of the summer, German forward Lukas Podolski from Cologne. The 26-year-old striker will be in place at the Emirates for next season, with Arsenal paying around £11m for him.

“We are delighted to secure the deal for Lukas Podolski and see him as an important part of our future,” the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, said last night. “He is a top-class player, a very good finisher and a proven performer at club and international level.”

“He is a very strong player and will provide us with good attacking options. We are happy to have made this signing early and we’re looking forward to watching Lukas contribute at the European Championship over the summer, a level where he has already made 95 caps at the age of 26 – a phenomenal record [which] just shows his quality as a player.”

Podolski was delighted at the chance to play in England. Unless there is some dramatic collapse over the final games, he should play Champions League football again next year too.

“I’m so happy to be joining Arsenal Football Club and to play in the Premier League,” said Podolski, who discussed a possible move with his Germany team-mate Per Mertesacker. “Arsenal is one of the top clubs in Europe with a huge history. There are many top-quality players at Arsenal and the style of football which the team plays is fantastic. I’m proud to become an Arsenal player and am looking forward to playing my first match at Emirates Stadium and doing my best for all the Arsenal fans.”

The purchase of Podolski suggests a willingness at Arsenal to do their business early, before the distractions of the European Championship. Last summer Arsenal did not sign Mikel Arteta, Per Mertesacker, Yossi Benayoun, Andre Santos or Park Ju-young until the final days of the transfer window, and the team did not settle until a few months into the season.

Podolski is able to play up front or on the left of a front three. He could be a very effective partner to Robin van Persie next season, playing on the left of a front three, which is his role for Germany. He would be a superior alternative to Van Persie than either Park or Marouane Chamakh, certainly. But there are understandable fears from some Arsenal fans that Podolski may be replacing their captain and the recently crowned PFA and FWA player of the season, who has just one year left on his contract and is subject to interest from Manchester City and Juventus.

Podolski started his career at Cologne, where he emerged through the youth system into the first team. He joined Bayern Munich in 2006 and after three years in Bavaria, during which he won the German title, he returned to Cologne, where he is the best player and a hero to the fans. Even though Cologne are in the relegation zone, Podolski is the fourth top scorer in the Bundesliga, and is enjoying his best season, with 18 goals from 28 games.

It is for his achievements with the national side, though, that Podolski is most famous. He was excellent in the 2006 World Cup, in which he was named Best Young Player. Two years later, Podolski was the second-top scorer in Euro 2008, and he had a good World Cup in 2010 too.

For Arsenal’s final two games of the season, at home against Norwich City on Saturday and then away at West Bromwich Albion on 13 May, they will be without French midfielder Abou Diaby, who suffered a thigh strain during a substitute appearance in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Stoke City. Diaby has made only five substitute appearances all season but he is now a doubt to make the France squad for Euro 2012.