Reps ready for salary cut, declare support for anti-graft war

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In support of the move to reduce the high cost of governance and to boost the war against corruption, the House of Representatives has declared its readiness to take salary cut and back President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-graft measures.

 


Making these disclosures, yesterday, in Lagos, Chairman, Ad-hoc Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Mohammed Sani Zorro, said all members of the House of Representatives irrespective of party affiliations are on the same page with the President on the change agenda and ready to give him the necessary legislative backing to actualize the agenda.
Zorro, who represents Gumel/Gagarawa/Mai Gatari/Sule Tankarkar Federal Constituency of Jigawa State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said the need to streamline the funding of the House’s activities in line with best practices across the world and Nigeria’s economic fortunes was the reason the Reps set up the Dr Clement Nwankwo Committee.
Promising Nigerians a new wave of transparency in the conduct of affairs in the House, Zorro, a former national chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), said the lawmakers will abide by whatever recommendations the Nwankwo committee makes as regards oversight function allowance, sitting allowance, constituency allowance and all aspects of funding of the House of Representatives.
We’ll lead by  example
On whether the lawmakers can take salary cut, Zorro, who commended President Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and some governors, who have elected to have their salaries cut by 50 per cent, said they are willing to toe the same path because “we are conscious of our integrity. We want to live by example.”
He said that the decision of the House to review the funding of its activities was in submission to the wishes of Nigerians.

Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila Addessed journalists after Meeting with Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja…

He said: “I am here to reveal to you that as a result of the consistent outcry by Nigerians, who have been taking critical exception to the funding of the National Assembly, the House has decided to review the holistic funding of its activities.
“This review will also result in right sizing the funding of the various aspects of our activities. We have already put a mechanism in motion to achieve that. It may also result in the drastic cut of our finances be they salaries, allowances and running cost. We are conscious of our integrity; we will lead by example.
“What I can assure you is that we are submitting to the will of the people as a responsive and responsible legislative institution. We can no longer ignore the popular wishes of the Nigerian people who elected us in the first place. Even if the measures that we will consider will inconvenience us, we will rather make that sacrifice and respect the views of the Nigerian people once and for all.”
Declare support  for anti-graft war
On the anti-graft war, he said: “We are ready to support unconditionally the war being waged against corruption as spearheaded by the executive arm of government under President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I can tell you this on behalf of the House. Whoever is averse to the war against corruption in Nigeria is not a patriot. All patriotic people, whether in the National Assembly or outside of it, must support this war because of the implication of the degenerative level of our own corruption, which has compromised everything that Nigeria used to be. We are ready to assist in the building of a strong and strategic Nigeria. This cannot come about with all these reports in the newspapers of pervasive corruption. So, unconditionally, the House will support the war against corruption.”
On call that the scope of the anti-corruption probe should be widened and extended to 1999, Zorro said it is the prerogative of the executive arm of government, which has control over the security and intelligence agencies, to decide “but what the parliament does is to check the excesses, if any, of whatever process that the executive implements.
“Once the National Assembly discovers that this anti-corruption pursuit is tilted unfairly, may be against a person or group of persons, they will query it. But as of now, we are not entertaining any fear. We will support it, even if that corruption probe will involve the National Assembly. We just have to clean up this country because corruption actually reduces our humanity to the barest level.”

India High Commissioner Exposes Diezani’s $14b Shady Oil Deal With His Country

Nigeria – The Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ajjampur R. Ghanashyam, has revealed that the NNPC had failed to sign a long-term agreement with New Delhi, Nigeria’s Number One oil buyer, but rather used intermediaries in the annual $14 billion deal.
The Indian High Commissioner added that apart from the lack of long-term agreement between the two countries on crude oil purchases, in 2006, an Indian company, Oil & Natural Gas Commission Videsh Limited (OVL) and Mittal Energy International, which is a joint venture between OVL, an Indian government company, and Mittal Energy a private firm, applied for oil concession. The Signature bonus sum of $25 million was paid, but neither was the oil concession granted nor the money paid returned to the Indian companies.

He lamented the situation thus, “How many years is it? Nine years. Even to get the concession is not possible, and the money is not refunded to us. For nine years your country has been sitting on this, and they make us go round and round and round. We buy $15 billion worth of crude oil per year and we have the potential of importing $50 billion worth of crude oil from Nigeria.
Checks at the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Abuja at the weekend revealed that the letter for the signature bonus was prepared by the department, but the former minister failed to sign it until the end of the tenure of the Jonathan administration.

Incredible! 2 masquerades arrested for robbery in Enugu

The two masquerades, a carpenter, and a brick-layer denied the allegation that they stole money from Ezewaji but claimed that their colleague, Chima Mamah, stole the money.

 

 Two individuals clad in masquerade costumes have been arrested by the Police in Enugu after allegedly robbing Chinonso Ezewaji.

According to the report by The Punch, Police in Nsukka arrested the two men in masquerade costume in Ovoko Community, Nsukka LGA, Enugu State for allegedly beating Ezewaji and robbing him of N57,000 on the Nsukka/Oballo-Afor highway.

A masquerading entertaining crowd Sky Scrape City

‘The escorts of the masquerade however ran away,’ a police source said. ‘There were eight masquerades. They blocked the Nsukka/Obollo-Afor road and harassed people.’
‘The two arrested masquerades however denied collecting the N57,000 from Ezewaji but claimed they know the person who collected the money from the victim. When we searched one of the arrested masquerade, we saw Indian hemp in his pocket,’ the police source said further.
The two masquerades, who identified themselves as Kenchukwu Eze, a carpenter, and Ejiofor Eze, a brick-layer denied the allegation that they stole money from Ezewaji but claimed that their colleague, Chima Mamah, stole the money.
The Public Relations Officer, Enugu State Police Command, Ebere Amarizu, confirmed the incident, saying investigation had commenced on the matter.
He urged communities to regulate and monitor those who wear masquerade costumes, adding that some of them used the opportunity to harass, intimidate and rob innocent members of the public.

I don’t need to take off my clothes to gain attention – Karina

The name Katherine Kpina may not ring a bell, but when you mention Karina, music lovers in Port Harcourt can testify to her music ingenuity.

The budding singer, who recently released Suddenly, an Afro-pop song, revealed in a chat with Showtime that she doesn’t have to be naked to gain attention.
“I know am sexy it’s a natural thing. I don’t have to go to t extent of taking off my clothes to be noticed.

Karina

I am tall, got straight beautiful legs and fair in complexion, a little tease and eyes pop out everywhere. I am elegant and believe in myself. It has gotten me this far.”
As an upcoming artiste, she reveals the challenges she has encountered in the pursuit of her passion.
“There are lots of challenges, no adequate funds to push your jobs. If one is not smart you get duped by fake promoters.
Another challenge is that people want to sleep with you before they put you on their shows or produce a song for you. When you desire to feature some A -list artiste, they ask you to pay in kind or cash.” she reveals.

Pounds for pounds: Who wins?

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D’banj and P-Square are heavyweights in the African music landscape.D’banj has morphed into an entrepreneur aside from his passion for music, while the group P-Square have created an irresistible showbiz brand for themselves. Between D’banj and P-Square, who is the king?

D’banj

Dbanj: What is the koko?
The 35 years old entertainer with multiple nicknames-Kokomaster, Eja Nla, and Kiniun Fun Fun is a bubbly artiste who continues to gain the attention he loves. Though he has not been able to release hit songs in recent times, he has made up for it with his other ventures.
With three studio albums and 2 compilation albums to his credit, Dbanj has striven to maintain his status in the minds of his fans. His first endorsement was in the year 2005 with an energy drink called Power Fist. In 2008, he signed a bigger deal with Nigerian telecoms giant, Globacom estimated to be worth over N70m.
The deals didn’t stop there. In December 2012, D’banj signed a ground breaking mega deal with Sony Music. May 2013, D’banj was named the Bank of Industry (BOI) Ambassador. November 2013, D’banj signed a multi-million Naira deal with Globacom for the 2nd time. Last year, D’banj was named the official African Ambassador for ‘Beats by Dre’ headphones. This year, he became Ciroc brand ambassador. He has won 29 awards and nominated for 58.
Social media influence
He has 333,000 followers on Instagram as at the time of this report. He has 1.24m followers on Twitter as at the time of this report. His Feeling the nigga video featuring Akon has 797, 825 views on YouTube
P-Square: The wonder twins
Africa’s leading twins in music, Peter and Paul Okoye popularly known as P-square are titans when it comes to the world of entertainment.
The 33 years old twins have five albums to their credit and have clinched 17 awards in 18 nominations in total. Their hit songs, Personally, No one like you and Collabo still rule the airways across Africa.
Social media influence
The pop stars are one of the most influential entertainers on social media. Peter has 514,000 followers on Instagram, while Paul has 421,000 followers on Twitter.
Collabo their hit song featuring Don Jazzy currently has 9m views on YouTube (As at the time of this report). As a group-Square are brand ambassadors for Globacom, while Peter as an individual, is a brand Ambassador for Olympics milk

Buhari furious, summons NDDC mgt over contract-splitting

Worried by alleged mismanagement of funds of the commission running into billions of Naira, the Presidency has summoned the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to answer questions on the true financial status of the agency

                                                                                                                                                                

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Competent sources confirmed to Vanguard that the President would meet the management team of the NDDC and take them up on many issues relating to the management of the resources of  the commission since the new board came on board in December 2013.
Buhari, according to sources close to his office, is furious that the management has allowed influential politicians to hijack the agency and made away with billions of Naira under the guise of executing contracts with little or no result on the ground to show for such money.
It was learnt that the President would seek answers to why the commission refused to adhere to due process in the award of major contracts valued at billions of Naira, preferring instead to split them in violation of the Public Procurement Act.
The President is reported to have been furious that the commission went ahead to award multi-billion naira contracts, paid and backdated them to last year to cover the financial misdeed even after the board had been sacked with a specific mandate to the managing director to take over the place.
Attempt to divert N3.8bn allocation
The struggle for the control of the finances of the commission is said to have reached its most embarrassing point about two months ago when two directors of the commission connived and withdrew N3.8 billion from the NDDC account in the Central Bank of Nigeria and paid the money to their favoured contractors drawn from their own states, leaving the managing director in the dark.
It was learnt that the managing director, who had accused the CBN of withholding the money was shocked on reaching the CBN to discover that two of his directors had secretly signed and collected the huge amount and paid to their ‘contractor-friends’ without his knowledge.
It was also learnt that the meeting, which is to take place at the Presidential Villa this week, is to enable President Muhammadu Buhari to get first brief from the Managing Director, Mr. Dan Abia and the two executive directors of Finance and Projects, Henry Ogiri and Engr. Tuoyo Omatsuli on what they have been doing to move the troubled region forward since they were appointed to office in December 2013 by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The briefing by the three key officials will also determine the next line by Buhari regarding their continued stay in office given the gamut of petitions of wrongdoing against them by Niger Delta stakeholders, individuals and groups.
Diversion of  N2.7bn
In one case and with documents made available to Vanguard, N12.5 billion was split by the commission and paid to 12 companies said to be sponsored by top politicians close to the commssion for the ‘supply of security vehicles’ for the Nigeria Police Force to patrol the Niger Delta states only for the same commission to award another N2.7 billion ‘contract to individuals and groups’ to supply the commission with ‘intelligence gathering/management’.
A top source in the commission said that aggrieved staff and stakeholders have already raised the alarm that the so-called amount claimed to have been ‘paid’ to the intelligence-gathering contractors was simply diverted for political purposes.
“The truth is that no project called intelligence gathering was ever carried out but it was just a trick by some highly-placed persons to divert the money,” an official of the commission confessed.
Contract splitting
The contract bazaar by the commission also saw another  N1.6 billion being carefully split among 85 companies for the ‘procurement, transportation and delivery’ of waste disposal trucks to the commission. It could not be ascertained if the trucks had arrived Port Harcourt as at last night.
But the most embarrassing, according to new documents released to Vanguard, is the award of another set of contracts to influential politicians worth billions of Naira under the subhead of “Women Empowerment Programme” of the NDDC for the supply and delivery of tricycles to the commission which was also backdated to last year to cover the misdeed as the amount involved was far beyond the approval limit o the commission.
Findings showed that the President decided to invite the management to explain their actions to him after receiving series of briefings on the troubled board by officials of the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, which supervises the NDDC.

Some of the NDDC Governing board and Management

But a director in the commission, who did not want to be quoted told us in Port Harcourt that the meeting with PMB was not as a result of the adverse audit report but a deliberate effort by the commission to brief the president on the activities of the agency.
The official explained that it was the management that requested for an audience with the Presidency in order to clear the air on many issues relating to the NDDC, one of which was the confusion over whether the two executive directors should continue in office after the board that brought them had been sacked.
The commission has been mentioned lately in a web of corruption allegations ranging from contract-splitting running into billions of Naira and inability to account for N183.7 billion which passed through it between 2008 and 2012.
Angered by the development, the Auditor-General of the Federation, Mr. Samuel Ukara, has issued a query to the embattled commission to account for the huge amount of public funds, an action that has not gone down well with the Executive Director, Finance, Mr. Henry Ogiri.
Apart from vilifying the Auditor-General for making the report public, Ogiri also questioned the audacity of Ukara to insist that the commission was unable to account for the said amount and called on the Institute of Accounts in Nigeria, ICAN,  to discipline Ukara for alleged ‘unprofessional conduct’.
But the AGF has stood his grounds, maintaining that the NDDC refused to respond to repeated pleas by his office to respond to audit queries issued to it despite sustained reminders spanning over a year in each case.

Economy in trouble, as oil price crashes

Nigeria’s economy may be heading for trouble, as oil price crashed even lower at the weekend, thereby threatening the 2015 budget and fiscal plan.

The international price of crude hit a six-year low below USD40 per barrel with West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures as low as USD39.89, while Brent crude declined further to USD45.10 from previous week’s level of USD48.87 per barrel. Nigeria’s sweet crude is similar to the Brent.
It is envisaged that prices will crash even further once Iran begins to enyoy its international pardon by pumping more oil into the already saturated market.
This will spell more doom for Nigeria, which is producing less than its projected 2 million barrels daily, thereby increasing the cash crunch and liquidity flow in the economy, with many states still unable to pay salaries.
The steep decline in oil prices had in March this year forced the National Assembly to settle for USD53 per barrel as the oil benchmark price for 2015 budget, down from USD65 earlier proposed by the Federal Executive Council under ex-president Goodluck Jonathan. The government had earlier in the year effected downward review of the budget benchmark twice in response to sliding oil price from USD78 to USD73 and later to USD65. It even said it had planned for possible price fall scenarios of up to $50/barrel.
With this development, economists are expecting further downwards adjustments in the budgetary benchmark, revenue projections and ultimately expenditure provisions. Also, they expect further pressure on the value of Naira as the development has wiped off any accretion to the country’s Excess Crude Account.
According to the Global Chief Economist, Renaissance Capital, Mr. Charles Robertson, lower oil price will be painful for the budget. It means less money is available for much-needed investment in infrastructure.
Budget projections
The 2015 budget had envisaged federal government’s share to be about N3.6 trillion of total oil component revenue at USD65 per barrel, with estimated production output of 2million barrels per day.
At current oil price, the component accruable to the federal government would drop massively to less than N2.5 trillion, putting the entire budget in disarray. Evidently all the projected expenditure, Vanguard learnt, are already being curtailed in the recurrent expenditure provisions in the budget, while capital expenditure of N634 billion is completely dropped.
An economist with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) told Vanguard that federal government may have abandoned the 2015 budget entirely and is now focusing on ordering the economy for 2016 budget and fiscal policy. He added, however, that in the interim, the apex bank would be battling with the external reserves and exchange rate pressures as a result of this development in the international oil market.
Analysing the current pressures on CBN over the external reserves and plunging oil revenue, economists at FSDH Merchant Bank, said: “Although the CBN may keep to its current exchange rate position, we believe that with the huge demand pressure in the foreign exchange market in the face of the declining oil price and unsold oil production, we are inclined to maintain our forecast exchange rates,” which is about N216/ USD1.00 in the official CBN window by next month.
The oil revenue situation appears more compounded as Nigeria’s ability to produce and availability of buyers have been on the negative since this year. According to OPEC, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) cut its July official selling price for Bonny light and Qua Ibo to 10-year lows relative to North Sea Brent, as an overhang of 15mb July cargoes were unsold. The OPEC added that loading delays also hurt certain Nigerian grades as refiners looked for more reliable alternatives.
Moreover, West African crudes were undermined by excess supply and relatively high freight rates for their cargoes making cheap North Sea and Mediterranean grades more attractive to some European buyers.
Market glut
The Managing Director, International Energy Services, Dr. Diran Fawibe, noted that the US market and parts of Europe are no longer Nigeria’s prime markets since the advent of the Shale oil, while the Arab producers have a better comparative advantage over Nigeria because of their nearness to the market.
He noted that what is happening at the international oil market is beyond government’s control, which is further exacerbated by the refusal of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, to which Nigeria also belongs, to cut down its production quota.
OPEC is unwilling to cut back production as it would have done in the past to shore up prices because of shale oil, thus resulting to the current glut in the market and continuous price falls.

(vanguard)

Agreeing that Iran’s entry has again changed the market dynamic, the Chief Executive Officer, Oildata Energy Group, Mr. Emeka Ene, said offering discounts will compound Nigeria’s problems, since it is a mono-product oil economy.
Instead, he urged government to initiate longer term strategies such as the formation of alliances with other producer nations, like Venezuela.
He said: “We (Nigeria) need to think out of the box, and if we plan well, we can blend Nigeria’s light crude with Venezuela’s heavy crude to make it more friendly to the refineries.”
According to him, the reason government is finding the price falls very challenging is because oil has over the years been seen as an export commodity, rather than an investment product.
“The time to invest in higher field activities is when oil prices are down not when they are high. But we are unable to this this because there is no money for such investments,” he added.
The slide toward USD40 per barrel gained momentum earlier last week after the US Energy Information Administration reported a larger-than-expected build in crude inventories previous week.
This added to signs that the oil market remains oversupplied, with unequal demand, as the 12-member OPEC continues to pump at an unrelenting pace. The group’s latest monthly report showed that its output surged to a three-year high in July, boosted by Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Angola, and Iran. More Iranian oil is expected on the market with lifting of economic sanctions.
Oil is now headed for its longest weekly losing streak since 1986, according to Bloomberg. Oil is in a bear market, and prices are down nearly 35% from recent highs.
Friday’s drop comes amid a bigger sell-off in global markets. The major averages are seeing their sharpest weekly loss of the year, and the Dow lost more than 350 points during Friday’s session.

I don’t need a husband -Bimbo Akintola

Bimbo Akintola is an actress that is no doubt very beautiful and sexy, but her single status has remained a mystery to her fans. But she doesn’t seem bothered about not finding a husband. 
 
The actress who is in her early 40s has always stated that she is not looking for a husband and cannot be pressurized into marriage.
In an interview with Vanguard a while ago, she said, “I’m not looking for a husband and I don’t need one. I don’t need anything. I’m a complete person
. I only do things that make me happy, because I believe and I understand the reality that there is just one life and you should live it to the maximum. Happiness and peace should be the key.
I’m not searching for a husband, because the rumour that I’m searching for a husband has given me Wahala,- all kinds of people from left, right and centre, looking for me saying they want to marry me.
Please, I’m using this opportunity to tell everybody, I am not looking for a husband!”

In School, But Not Schooling! The Sad Story Of Floating 'Students'

Kate (not her real name) had run to her parents with her admission letter to study International Relations in one of the Federal Universities in the South West Nigeria. The elated parents’ joy knew no bounds as they danced around the living room. This was her fourth time of trying to gain admission into a university and the news of her admission had filtered into their tiny community. She then went shopping bit by bit with her mum in preparation for her resumption. At last she left for school.

A family friend, Mr. Shanu, working as a non-academic staff of the University was the person that assisted Kate in working out the admission process after a huge sum had been paid to him by Kate’s father. So it was Mr. Shanu that forwarded the admission letter to Kate.

On getting to the school, Shanu instructed her not to go ahead with her courses registration yet, but advised her to go ahead and attend lectures normally. He explained that there were some delays with her name reflecting in the batch list sent to the examination regulatory body; amidst other excuses.

Kate, by then, had been known by almost most students on the campus because of her conspicuous nature. She lived off campus in one of the student off-school hostels. Something was wrong with her admission, she suspected, but didn’t tell her parents. The man told her that she didn’t need to tell her parents nor return home. He promised to make sure that at the next admission, she would be taken.

At the time of her semester exams, she summarily avoided the campus, though very few students noticed except for her close friends that she gave the impression that she was ill and that she would always have her own papers done privately. This was the routine until the end of the session.

It was a terrible dashing of hope at the next admissions when she was not on the list of admissions again! By then, she felt it was too late to tell her parents the truth because it would be too shameful for the people at home and community to know she was packing her things back home. She was to spend three years in the school, because she was to be admitted with her ‘A’ level results.

At a time, she completely started avoiding the campus. She perceived many people had noticed that something was wrong. Sometimes, she would travel to other schools to visit her friends for almost half the semester. By then, she had even mixed up with some terrible characters as friends, but at home her parents believed their daughter was nearing the end of her education.

At the end of her supposed years at the school, she didn't even inform her parents about any graduation. Kate returned home, expecting her arranged National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) call-up letter, and when she eventually got it, she had been posted to a fake NYSC orientation camp in Northern Nigeria. Kate paid heavily for this call-up arrangement. All was well with the camp until security agents suddenly raided the camp!

Kate and 86 other fake youth corps’ members were arrested and paraded by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) at the illegal orientation camp following intelligence surveillance. The fake graduates, some of whom were in the khaki uniform of the National Youth Service Corps, were paraded by NSCDC and their NSCDC boss announced that the suspects paid between N80,000 to N150,000 to the fake NYSC operators.

You could imagine Kate’s parents’ horror, confusion and disbelief when they learnt that their daughter was among those arrested and paraded. All their toiling, sacrificial denial and expenses on her during the supposed academic period, gone down the drain!

Kate had hoped to secure a fake NYSC certificate from the fake camp and combine it with the fake BSc degree certificate which she paid heavily for at the sham documents black market.

There are 100s of supposed students like Kate all over our higher institutions! For most of them, it might not have been their own design to be floaters, but something would always go wrong with their untidy and backdoor admission arrangements.

Some might actually be admitted, properly but along the line got expelled for situations such as examination mal-practices, use of fake Ordinary level School Certificates (WAEC) during their initial admission to higher institutions; while some might have been expelled for participating in occultism and occultist practices within the schools’ vicinity .

Many atimes, their parents may never know, but instead they keep believing that their wards are progressing at their academics; while in actual fact they are just living in or around campuses doing nothing.

So I wish to ask you parents, do you suspect that something fishy about your beloved son or daughter pertaining to their tertiary institutions? Have you ever visited them on while in school? Do you know any of their lecturers?

Employers of labour also need to stop hiring based on face value! My background check firm’s experience, over the last 10 years, has attested that about 33% of supposed higher institutions’ graduates are either working or proposing to work with fake or forged educational, NYSC or Professional certificates.

Running background checks on new and current employers has become so imperative, because no person can give what he or she doesn’t have. An experience not earn can’t be expended.

Lastly, all those in the shoes of Kate need to realize that most organizations are now wiser. They engage the services of background screening firms such as Background Check International (BCI), Nigeria’s first Background Check Company, hence, there’s nothing that you cover that will not be exposed.

My advice to Kate and company, what happened to you initially is unfortunate and painful, but that’s not the end of the world. Admit your errors and mis-doings, make a U-turn, and do the right thing. You might have lost some years in the processes, but I can assure you that in no time, you will gain it back.

Continuing on the journey on a wrong road will never make you end up on the right road. Wrong roads, most times, end up in pain, disgrace, depression and destruction. Be wise. Turn back from it.

Troops ambush, kill scores of terrorist in Sambisa offensive

Following the sustained air and ground offensive against remnants of Boko Haram terrorists still holed up in bunkers and other hideouts inside Sambisa Forest by airforce fighter aircraft, Nigerian troop’s yesterday succeeded in downing scores of the terrorists who attempted to flee the forest into neighbouring communities.
In this regard, Troops of 26 Task Force Brigade in Gwoza, Borno State, on Tuesday evening engaged Boko Haram terrorists fleeing Sambisa forest as unrelenting aerial bombardment by the Nigerian Air Force continued.
According to a statement signed by Acting Director, Army Public relations, Col. Sani Usman, “The fleeing terrorists in 7 Pick-up vans and some motorcycles mounted with assorted weapons such as Rocket Propelled Grenades and Anti-Aircraft Guns were decisively dealt with, killing quite a number of them”.
“The troops also destroyed their vehicles, weapons and motorcycles. They also recovered a vehicle, 1 motorcycle and 2 AK47 riffles and large quantities of 7.62mm NATO and 12.7mm ammunitions”.
“Troops have intensified their patrols and offensive actions against the terrorists in the area” he added.

Army apologises for attack on Benue Community

Army apologises for attack on Benue Community

The Commandant, Nigeria Army School of Military Engineering (NASME), Makurdi, Maj.-Gen. Bamidele Ogunkale, has apologised to Gov. Samuel Ortom for soldiers’ attack on a community in North Bank on Aug. 15. Ogunkale tendered the apology during a courtesy call on the governor at the Peoples House, Makurdi, on Wednesday.
He said he had already instituted a commission of inquiry headed by the Deputy Commandant to investigate the circumstances that led to the incidence, and assured that perpetrators would be punished. The commandant maintained that the army would collaborate with other security agencies to forestall the reoccurrence of such ugly incidence in the state.
He also announced the cancellation of plans to relocate the Nigerian Army Institute of Technology and Environmental Studies, NAITES, and urged the people to patronise the institution. Ogunkale appealed to the state government to provide logistics to the school to enable it resume pumping of water to the neighboring community.
Ortom, in his response, assured that the state government was compiling a comprehensive report on the crises and would forward it to the president for necessary action. He advised the military to always operate within the ambit of the law, adding that two “wrongs do not make a right’’.
Ortom expressed satisfaction with the commandant’s peace building efforts, and appealed for its sustainability. He assured that even though things were tight financially he would provide the assistance which the commandant requested.

Alleged killing, drowning of 150 in Yobe not substantiated – Army Spokesman

The Nigerian Army on Wednesday said that media reports alleging the killing and drowning of 150 people in Kukuwa-Gari, Gujiba Local Government Area of Yobe, “cannot be substantiated’’.
This is contained in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman.
Usman said in the statement that reports in some quarters had alleged that more than 150 civilians had been massacred and drowned by the Boko Haram insurgents.
He, however, assured the general public of the “Nigerian Army’s commitment in the fight against Boko Haram terrorists and ensuring security for law-abiding citizens in the affected areas “.
According to the statement, troops have arrested two fleeing key members of the terrorist group with two pick up vehicles in Geidam, Yobe.
It said those arrested were currently being interrogated by the authorities.
Usman, in the statement, also said that there were reports and distressed calls about suspected movements and planned attacks by the
Boko Haram terrorists around Damasak general area.
He, however, stated that the Nigerian Air Force had conducted air surveillance and armed reconnaissance in the area, while the Nigerian Army troops had also been reinforced.

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