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Three people suspected to have been attempting to detonate an explosive at a church in Jos North council of Plateau State were on Sunday killed.Lucky escape, priest of the ECWA church. Photo

Eye witnesses say two men riding on a motor cycle were killed when the explosive they were carrying detonated.

The third person was riding alone and turned to escape from the scene of the explosion when a crowd of residents caught and killed him before setting his body ablaze.

The incident which occurred at about 9:45am took place around the premises of ECWA church, Nassarawa Gwong, some 300 meters from Angwa Rukuba junction scene of the multiple explosions of December 24, last year.

The Pastor in charge of the ECWA parish, Satti Adamu said he was in the church when he heard the sound the explosion. He said "when I came out, I was told that some Hausa boys wanted to throw a bomb and it exploded and killed them".

The Ondo State police have arrested five persons in connection with the kidnap of Mafe Ibrahim, the mother of Jimoh Ibrahim. According to an assistant commissioner of police who prefers anonymity, the suspects were arrested in the environs of Igbotako and are helping the police in their investigations. The police officer told NEXT that the kidnap was not politically motivated.

The state police command had recently announced that the case has been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.

Playing politics with the kidnap

While the PDP, Mr Ibrahim’s party alleged that the ruling Labour Party was behind the abduction, the state government advised Mr Ibrahim and his party men to look within themselves for the kidnappers.

The state government through the commissioner for information, Ranti Akerele, accused Mr Ibrahim of “playing politics” with the kidnap of his mother.

The commissioner faulted Mr Ibrahim’s account of the kidnap saying, “Ibrahim presented the case as if the kidnap was masterminded and executed by the state government, hence his demand for the declaration for a state of emergency in the state.” Mr Akerele added, “the security agencies that have already been drafted to effect the release of this woman should look beyond the ordinary and search the confines of Jimoh Ibrahim’s household.

“They should look among his political associates who seem to be rejoicing at the sad development and his myriad of business associates.

“It is the height of immorality for anybody to think of scoring cheap political goals with the kidnap of a 65-year-old woman.

“If a beneficiary of the kindness and love of one earlier victim could organise and mastermind the kidnap of his benefactor, who says desperate political rookies cannot plan and execute the kidnap of a poor old woman?” He asked.

The commissioner also noted that the act could be carried out by the PDP, “in order to create a band of phantom stakeholders whose only tangible solution to the incident is to call for a state of emergency in Ondo State.” He said: “With all the powers at the disposal of the peace-loving government of Ondo State, issues of security have been pursued with unprecedented focus since April 2009. Such that in all the reported cases of kidnap, not only have the victims returned to safety but the culprits have been apprehended to the eternal shame of those who cry wolf when there are none.”

They wanted Jimoh out

But the PDP in a statement by its Director of Publicity, Ayo Fadaka, alleged that the Labour Party carried out the act, “to discourage Jimoh Ibrahim from further participating in politics.” Mr Fadaka said, “Our attention has been drawn to the kidnap of Madam Ibrahim, the mother of Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim who is a solid pillar of our Party both in this state and nationally. It will be recalled that our state has been going through lots of security challenges in recent weeks and this is occasioned by the garrulity of Labour Party leaders and rank and file whose concept of politicking is to stand the laws on its head and use under the table tactics to secure victory. Their approach so far has led to the death of Emmanuel Adebayo in Ose and scores of brutalised and wounded people across the state. Their latest action is the kidnap of this old woman, this development is not only evil, but sadistic, comprehensively wicked and unacceptable.

“In their imagination it is the needed trump card that is needed to disorientate, disorganise and discourage Jimoh Ibrahim in his quest to join others in leading the party to victory in the forthcoming elections in Ondo State. But we want to assure them that their calculation is not only shallow but will fail to achieve their desired goal.” Mr Fadaka called on the law enforcement agents to treat the matter with urgency, adding that the culprits and their sponsors should be brought to book.

Mr Ibrahim’s mother was kidnapped from her Igbotako home on Sunday evening by four unidentified gunmen. It was gathered that the gunmen arrived at the house, a one-storey building located in the outskirts of the town around 8pm, and pretended to be customers who wanted to buy some locally made mats which the woman was selling.

For the nation’s 50th year anniversary celebrations the president’s wife, Patience Jonathan, decided to share bags of rice to “alleviate the poverty” of local women – and did this in the crudest, most elementary way possible – by calling people together and throwing them bags of rice like beggars.

By the time she was through, there were plenty of casualties, some fatal, as citizens struggled not just for rice but also against the complete absence of crowd control measures or indeed any kind of preparation to handle the melee that was sure to ensue from that method of distribution.

The bottom line: someone wanted to make a public show of doing good, but the action was neither thought through nor planned well; a metaphor for many of this administration’s handling of crucial issues.

Last week however, it all became a bit too much..

At a campaign rally for the People’s Democratic Party at Port Harcourt sports stadium, where the president was heralded and governors received their party flags, it all ended in avoidable tragedy. Sixteen people died and many others were wounded from the stampede that ensued after a police officer fired into the air to disperse the crowd..

Unfortunately, this is no simple tragedy. According to reports, the problem began when crowds wanted to leave as the president was about to begin his speech. While there is no doubt that this probably had more to do with people’s impatience with speeches rather than any animosity towards the candidacy of Mr. Jonathan, his presidential security seems to have convinced itself that this would be embarrassing to the president. The guards therefore refused to allow the guests leave – especially because it appears the same thing had happened at a similar rally in Kaduna just the day before.

But a crowd that wants to leave is a crowd that wants to leave – and when the armed guards were unable to control the pushing any longer, one of them began to shoot. Evidently, in a democracy, a people cannot even choose whom to listen to and when, and it has somehow become a duty to sit still during a campaign rally. The result was chaos, death, and many wounded at an event where people came to answer the invitation of a man who wants their votes.

The information commissioner for Rivers State, Ibim Semenitari, confirmed the sequence of events. “As soon as governors finished receiving their flags, and the president was about to make his speech,” she revealed, “some of the people, who had come to celebrate with the president and their governors began to leave. Initially, the gates were opened, that is at the Liberation stadium. But people were leaving in an uncoordinated manner, and security personnel were trying to manage the crowd and in the process of managing the crowd, they shut the bigger gate. Then a woman fell down and the crowd started stepping on her, some other people fell subsequently, and more people were stepping on them; that was how the confusion started.

“Now, when that happened, the mobile police men, who were standing outside, shot into the air to scare others. They (MOPOL) released a shot into the air to stop further surge and rescue those on the ground. Unfortunately, that worsened the confusion and more people started pushing, rushing back, rushing forward, leading to more casualties.”

We are left to wonder, are the president and his staff - aware that he is in fact responsible for the security of the people he leads first and foremost?

Everything about this unfortunate series of events shows Nigerians that there is plenty to be worried about: the fact that the security measures were not only insufficient, but the course of action taken by those charged with ensuring crowd control precipitated the tragedy: the fact that the presidential guards took over the security functions that are usually the preserve of the local police: the fact that the government has not taken any steps to heighten security and crowd control measures in this election season that guarantees there will be many more such gatherings of large crowds.

How is the president going to safeguard lives in Jos if he cannot even safeguard lives at his own campaign rally?

As if to add insult to injury, speaking to newsmen after the incident, an obviously clueless Governor Godswill Obot Akpabio, of Akwa Ibom State, urged Nigerians to vote overwhelmingly for Mr. Jonathan as a mark of honour in memory of those who died in the incident. It would be comic if it weren’t so tragic.

After unnecessary denials and a concerted effort to minimise the true import of this story – the president’s team decided to put off his campaigns for a while in a mark of respect for the dead.

However, it is barely one week after, and the president is back on the campaign trail – this time to Jos, the same city he never visited while hundreds, even thousands, were being killed on his watch.

Indeed, there is much to mourn.

This should be in the  Guiness Book of Records  

The number of ‘tenants’ allegedly defrauded by an estate agent in Lagos, has risen to 64, even as policemen at the Special Fraud Unit (SFU), Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, are still collating names of victims. The Police have also confirmed that Omotayo Balogun, who other victims claimed was not one of them, was actually defrauded by the estate agent, Olatunde Najeem.

 
According to the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the SFU, Ngozi Isintume, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Balogun paid the sum of N500,000, to Najeem for a mini flat.
She explained that after the payment, Najeem failed to give the flat to him. According to her, it was based on that, that he (Balogun) wrote a petition to the SFU on December 2, 2010, which led to the arrest of the suspect.
She disclosed that it was when other victims heard that Najeem had been arrested that they came to report that they were also defrauded by the suspect.
The PRO, however, wondered why some of the victims resorted to being hostile to the policemen, who according to her, were working to ensure that they get justice..
“It is not true that Balogun was not defrauded by the same estate agent. It’s not possible for all the victims to know themselves. The police are in a better position to know the victims because, they come to complain to us and not to their fellow victims.
“Omotayo was the first person who wrote a petition to the police. Those who are alleging that Balogun was not one of the victims, did not even report the matter to the police. It was when they heard that he had written a petition to the SFU, leading to the arrest of the suspect, that they started showing up,” she said.
Meanwhile, Isintume has advised people to always carry out thorough investigation before paying for accommodation. She also urged other victims in the rent scam to visit SFU for further information.
Daily Sun had in its Thursday, February, 17, 2011, edition published report of the estate agent, who defrauded 51 ‘tenants’ the sum of N16.9million.
 

 
 

Ms. Jessica Rene Tata, 22, operator of a home day care facility called Jackie's Child Care; located on 2810 Crest Park, West Houston, is alleged to have fled to Nigeria in her bid to avoid prosecution.

However, authorities in Houston have asked the U.S. Marshal’s Office to intervene to have Jessica Tata extradited back to Houston.

1. The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.

2. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry.

3. And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" So I answered, "O Lord God, You know."

4. Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!

5. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

6. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord."

7. So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.

8. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.

9. Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."

10. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

11. Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!'

12. Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

13. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves.

14. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it," says the Lord.' "
(Ezek.37:1-14 NKJV)

Addendum:

Jesus tells the story of a man who asked his two sons to go and work in his vineyard. One agreed but did not go. The other refused but later relented and went. Jesus then points out that it is he who actually obeys the Father that inherits his kingdom (Mt 21:28-32). This shows salvation is earned by works of righteousness and not just through vain confessions.

Moreover, we are saved at the end of our walk with God and not at the beginning (1 Pet 1:9). The seed of the word of God may be planted in us initially. However, it might ultimately be unfruitful if it falls by the wayside, on stony places or among thorns (Mt 13:3-9). Jesus says those who endure to the end will be saved (Mt 24:13).

He was only a candidate for vice president then but in 2007, Goodluck Jonathan is alleged to have taken matters into his own hands — literally. According to US diplomatic cables leaked to the whistleblower site Wikileaks, and which were made exclusively available to us, Mr. Jonathan helped himself gain the vice presidency four years ago by voting illegally four times. The astonishing accusation against Mr. Jonathan, now a president seeking validation at the polls next month, came from Edo governor Adams Oshiomhole, in a December 2008 briefing with US diplomats.

According to Mr. Oshiomhole, as reported in the US diplomatic cables, the court ruling voiding the supposed election of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Edo governor and declaring Mr. Oshiomhole the legitimate winner would not have been possible without documentary evidence that, Mr. Jonathan, among others, personally rigged the election.

Photo: Oshiomole presenting Benin Art Work to the president

“Oshiomhole told poloffs (‘political officers’ at the US embassy) that it proved impossible to use forensic evidence because of the poor quality of thumbprints and that claims of intimidation also proved difficult to prove in a court of law, but documentary evidence, such as proof that the ‘vice president’ had voted four times, for example, proved decisive in the courts,” the cables revealed.

Little birds

These particular cables from US diplomats stationed in Nigeria and reporting to the State Department in Washington are among a massive trove of documents made available to NEXT in a worldwide exclusive. The documents cover a whole range of people and events in our country from as early as 2003 to the last months of the poorly President Umaru Yar’Adua, whose death in office a year ago ended a constitutional crisis and resulted in the ascent of Mr. Jonathan to the highest office in the land. The cables provide an unusually unvarnished insight into the dysfunctional and ineffectual nature of our government at all levels, the various forces pushing and pulling at the country, and the vileness and rapacity of those we have allowed to govern us. Two unnamed political officers, or “poloffs,” in US diplomatic jargon, visited the governor on Dec. 17, 2008 shortly after his legal victory. It was during that meeting that Mr. Oshiomhole made his explosive claim, as dutifully recorded by his visitors. Their cable originated from the Lagos consulate. In the cable, dated Dec. 29, 2008, Mr. Jonathan, who was vice president at the time, is said to have violated the Electoral Act by voting more than once. The law stipulates a maximum fine of N1 million or 12 months’ imprisonment for violators. At a campaign rally on Thursday, President Jonathan repeated his recent declaration that neither he nor his party had any desire to rig the coming elections. He added that he would advocate transparent elections even at the cost of losing the election.

“I am assuring Nigerians that though I am contesting, nobody must manipulate votes in my favour. Our vote is very important,” he said.

Not so secret

The vote-rigging allegations against the president are known to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), according to a highly-placed source at the Commission. The source, who did not want to be named for fear of a reprisal, revealed that a petition had been filed at INEC since 2007 in which references were made to the fact that the former vice president and other public figures voted several times. The source said that the petition did not single out President Jonathan but used him as a high profile example of the rife multiple registrations that took place in Bayelsa, Mr. Jonathan’s home state, where he had served as governor, and other states in the broader Delta region.

“There was a petition which I was aware of dated November 2007 or so,” the source told NEXT. “It was filed by a pressure group in the South-South who named several people as being complicit in multiple voting. Jonathan was one of the people mentioned.

“We get hundreds of such petitions and most of them are without merit. Also, the truth is we just don’t have the time to look into all of them.”

Local and international observers condemned the 2007 election for being heavily rigged in favour of the PDP, with some classifying it as our worst ever. Even President Yar’Adua, in his inaugural address, acknowledged as much, promising to clean things up by 2011. Several cases are still pending in court over the four-year-old election, with successful upturns recorded in Ondo, Ekiti, Edo and Osun states. Mr. Oshiomhole, who is himself a beneficiary of a successful legal challenge in Edo state, is described in the diplomatic cable as a “refreshing reminder that Nigeria possesses competent and honest leaders”.

During the visit by the US officials, the Edo State governor said that approximately 2,000 volunteers in 120 different polling stations had gone through ballots, result sheets and voter registration records to identify documentary evidence of fraud.

Double registration

A day before President Jonathan announced that “nobody must manipulate votes in my favour”, Attahiru Jega, the electoral commission chairman, revealed that several high profile individuals registered more than once in the recently completed voter registration exercise. Mr. Jega refused to divulge the names of the “high profile double registrants” but said that they could all face prosecution.

Several parties have responded angrily to Mr. Jega’s stark admission that influential Nigerians were planning to rig the forthcoming elections. Ibrahim Modibbo, a spokesperson for the Nuhu Ribadu presidential campaign, said that although the INEC chairman did not mention any names, almost all of the offenders were in the PDP.

“I don’t believe you will find ACN members in this act because we are disciplined people,” he said.

The party’s secretary, Lai Mohammed, denounced Mr. Jega’s decision to withhold the name of the culprits and demanded he publish them.

“If he has the names as he claims, what is he waiting for? He should publish their names and prosecute them,” he said.

The spokesperson for the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Emma Eneukwu, said the offenders should be taken to court,

“It is a criminal offence,” he said. “If the penalty attached to these offences are handed to the offenders, it will serve as deterrent. There is no sacred cow.

“The issue of multiple registration has been a problem in the country and until somebody is punished we cannot have transparent polls.”

The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties(CNPP) spokesman, Osita Okechukwu, challenged the electoral commission boss to publish the names.

“We challenge Jega to publish forthwith the names of those involved and prosecute them in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act,” he said. “He should immediately ask all the RECs (Resident Electoral Commissioners) to audit the Authentic Finger Identification System (AFIS) so that they can separate the junk and the underaged.”

see attachment or click and judge for yourself 

i think it is a literary slant as he does not explain further 

Adams-Oshiomole-seeks-radical-change.pdf

culled from:

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/5681378-146/story.csp

The 2011 Liveabililty Ranking and Overview has rated Lagos city as the fourth worst city to live in. Last year, the city ranked fifth after an assessment of living conditions in 140 cities around the world using 30 indicators across five broad categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.

This was revealed in the latest summary of the EIU Liveability survey for the year 2010 where the state depreciated further from the fifth worst city it was ranked in 2009. With sub-indicators for each of factors such as the availability and quality of both private and public health care coupled with general health indicators, while prevalence of petty/violent crimes with threat of civil unrest/militancy are evaluated for the stability indicator.

The incessant rush-hour traffic congestion on major roads of the metropolis; insufficient low-cost housing, and its attendant impact on the housing needs of the rapidly growing population are glaring examples of the strained infrastructure needs of the city under the infrastructure indicators.

Lagos was ranked 137 in the list of 140 countries surveyed. The city with a population of 18million people had an overall rating of 39.0. The state also earned the score of 25 in stability, 33.3 in both education and health care and an above average score of 52.3 for culture and environment. The recent huge investments by the state government in infrastructure earned the state a score of 48.2.

However the deputy state governor, Sarah Sosan, who oversees the Ministry of Education disagreed with last year’s ranking stating that, “I don’t think the standard of education is low.” She said this during a press briefing held to mark the third anniversary of the current administration. “We need to improve on factors and we’ve been doing that through the rehabilitation of science laboratories, provision of libraries, putting of furniture in place, and so on. We are also aggressively putting structures in place to reduce congestion in our schools.”

On the first position of the worst city to live in the world is the Zimbabwean capital; Harare which was closely followed by Dhaka-the Bangladeshi capital which is currently hosting the cricket world cup and Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. Other cities on the bottom of the table are Algiers, Karachi, Tehran, Dakar and Colombo. The bottom list was populated mainly by African and Asian cities.

Vancouver again

Vancouver in Canada remained at the top of the ranking, as it did last year and according to the EIU; the position was maintained by the “successful hosting of the 2010 winter Olympics and Paralympics, which provided a boost to the infrastructure and culture and environment categories.”

The Australian city of Melbourne rises to become the second highest ranked city with Vienna; the Austrian capital coming third.

Two other Canadian cities; Toronto and Calgary completed the top five cities most suitable to live in the world according to the EIU liveability survey.

NEXT called up the senior special assistant to the Lagos state government on media; Hakeem Bello but he declined comment saying he will have to get across to the Ministry of Economic Planning which will be privy to such statements before the state government can adequately react to it.

Respondents who reacted to the previous ranking of Lagos were unanimous that the city has enjoyed a fairly stable atmosphere despite its peculiar characteristic as a meeting point for diverse ethnic groups. Yoruba residents in the state are particularly known for their goodwill and cheer, which gives rise to the numerous parties that dot the metropolis during weekends, and even, on some cases, work days. “Lagos is like a house of everything; a mix of everything,” said Justyna Kita, a Polish citizen from Krakow who was an intern at the Murtala Muhammed Foundation

“There is the traffic, the generators, and so much noise. But the people are very friendly and open. They shake my hands in the streets, and are always singing and dancing. I have made so many friends here, and I don’t miss my home for now.” A sociologist, Uwadiegwu Otisi, attributed the city’s stability as a factor responsible for its massive population growth. “Despite the aggression displayed by most Lagos residents, the city has won accolades as a peaceful city,” he said. “And I think it has been a major form of attraction to so many people who decided to relocate to Lagos. A lot of southerners have relocated to Lagos due to the incessant religious skirmishes in the north.”..

As the saying goes, all’s well that ends well but it really is not when there is so much silence about what did go on.

Exactly two weeks ago, his nanny took ten-month old baby Enioluwa Odegbaike, from his home in Magodo area of Lagos State. The little boy had been left in the care of the nanny, simply identified as Victoria, who apparently absconded with the baby while his mother was in the bathroom.

This last weekend the baby was found in Badagry, a border town in Lagos State. He was immediately united with his parents. The ordeal Mr. and Mrs Odegbaike must have endured in the last two weeks is better imagined than described.

Nanny Victoria’s action raises all kinds of questions. Was the motive kidnapping? Was there a syndicate behind her? Was she stealing the infant for herself? How was the baby recovered? What role did the police play? What has happened to the nanny? Why do we know nothing more about her than her first name? Why in the face of the happy news that Enioluwa has been found are the parents keeping mum?

Kidnapping in Nigeria has assumed the potency of a terrorist threat. The history of this crime that began as a weapon wielded first by Niger Delta militants and grew to become a source of easy money for your common garden criminal has been too often documented to need repetition here. In Baby Enioluwa’s case, there were no reports of any demand for ransom. The most significant aspect of the story was the use of social networks, Facebook, Twitter and Blackberry messaging to alert the populace and circulate the face of this lovely child and Nanny Victoria.

Shortly after the baby went missing, the parents made his picture and that of the nanny available through Facebook and other social media. Before long the news began to circulate among Nigerians both at home and abroad. In fact, the face of baby Enioluwa became so popular that many used his picture as their logo on their Facebook accounts. This helped in no small measure to assist in raising awareness about the poor baby and his parent’s plight. The news about his disappearance, which went viral, was good; it shows the power of communication. But that is about all that can be said about the matter at this point.

It is clear that the information the Odegbaike family had on Victoria, was scanty. Throughout the period of their son’s disappearance they were unable to give the nanny’s family name or it seems provide any background information or documentation on her.

More baffling, or perhaps it is all perfectly understandable given our realities, is the complete absence of any input from the police on this matter. Instead we have social networks and messaging channels filling in the gap and gratitude to God and providence for bringing this child back alive.

Not to put too fine a point on it this is an untenable method of crime detection and law enforcement. If Nigerians avoid the police because they have no faith in the ability of the men and women charged with the duty of protecting them to do the job effectively then we really have some far more basic issues to consider than the current all important one of protecting the sanctity of our vote.

Where are we if we cannot protect our children?

For every Baby Enioluwa there are thousands more, susceptible to the same crime and raising our hands to the sky is not the answer. A well trained professional and functioning police force that has the trust and confidence of the public, the protection of the community and the enforcement of the law as its primary goals is.

Can someone make this a campaign issue, please?

The Nigerian government, through its secret police, fuelled kidnapping in the restive Niger Delta region by paying millions of naira in ransom to kidnappers, a leaked US diplomatic cable, made available to NEXT, has revealed.

The cable, dated February 6, 2007, and which punctured the claims by the government, and the Nigerian security agencies, that ransoms were never paid to kidnappers, detailed how the government funnelled N20 million through an official of the State Security Service (SSS) to militants to free two foreign hostages.

Billy Graham, an American citizen, and Neil Mirrlees, a British national, were seized on January 23, 2007, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, when two vehicles crashed into Mr. Graham’s Peugeot Sedan car, one from the front and the other from the rear, as both foreigners were on their way to work. Both men at the time worked for Pivot GIS Ltd (PGIS), an oil and gas servicing company located in Port Harcourt.

As the men were held captive and reportedly tortured, their employers, the federal government, the Delta and Rivers State government, and the American embassy made frantic efforts to secure their release.

Money for freedom

The US cable stated how in the second week of their captivity, Mr. Graham communicated with the then general manager of PGIS (we are withholding his name so as not to endanger him), appealing that the negotiation with the kidnappers “should conclude as soon as possible because British national Neil Mirrlees’s condition is very weak”. There were also efforts to get Oral Rehydration Therapy across to him to improve his condition.

Then on February 5, the document said, a top official of the SSS (we are withholding his name because of the nature of his job) in Rivers State, who coordinated the ransom-paying process, reportedly got in touch with John Walker of Control Risks Group, a British private security company which renders kidnap and evacuation consultation services, to say that Governor James Ibori had decided to conclude the hostage negotiations, despite federal policy prohibiting ransom payments.

Mr. Walker quoted the SSS official as saying that “he would arrange for the hostages’ release once he had the full naira 20 million ransom (approximately USD 156,000) in hand”. The decision, he said, was made in the light of Mirrlees’s condition. Days later, the kidnappers released Mr. Mirrlees whose condition had become critical but kept Mr. Graham hostage pending the ransom payment.

It took almost two weeks before Mr. Graham was finally released. By this time the government had discreetly paid the N20 million to the kidnappers, who had initially demanded 1.8 billion naira ransom (about $14million). The government told the world that no payment was made.

In the cable, the SSS chief said that “Ransom payment was contingent on the condition that it never be publicly mentioned”. He then warned the PGIS general manager that he “would be arrested” if the ransom payment ever became known.

The SSS could not be reached for comments yesterday. Calls and text messages sent to the spokesperson of the service, Marilyn Ogar, went unanswered.

In a telephone call with NEXT, the PGIS boss admitted that at the time of the kidnap, he was in constant touch with the SSS. He also admitted that Mr. Graham while in captivity had called him to intimate him about Mr. Mirlees ill health. He however said he did not know the amount paid as ransom for their release.

When contacted, Control Risks Group declined to comment on its role in the ransom payment saga. “I’m afraid that we’re not in a position to help on this occasion as we do not provide comment on specific instances of kidnapping,” Georgina Parkes, the company’s Director of Communications, said. “In terms of our areas of focus as a business risk consultancy, we advise our clients on the political, security and integrity issues that they may encounter when doing business globally. As a matter of course all our business activities are undertaken in line with international and jurisdiction specific regulations and legislation.”

Creating a hostage-taking industry

By paying ransoms, the government and oil companies created an industry of hostage taking, says an April 3, 2006 cable by Ambassador John Campbell to Washington.

In the dispatch, Mr. Campbell related how Chevron Nigeria security consultant, Hamish MacDonald, lamented to him at a March 29, 2006 meeting that a large amount of money was paid for the release of some hostages seized in Delta State that month.

At the meeting with the ambassador, Mr. MacDonald raised concern that his company was “blind-sided” by the commitments made to effect the March 26 release of three hostages held by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND).

He said company sources indicated “a very large amount” of money had changed hands for this release, far more than in the release of hostages in January.

“If true”, Mr. Campbell wrote in his dispatch, “We might be witnessing the birth of an industry”.

Of course, kidnapping became such a huge industry afterwards, and the country is still grappling with the repercussions.

You are a man of your words and your star is bright.  I wish u well."  With these words, Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu  expressed best wishes to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, as he flagged off the Lagos presidential campaign rally today

The glamorous lovers’ day celebration on Monday turned bloody at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) when gunmen killed two students. Daily Sun gathered that the clash was between two rival cult groups, namely, Black Axe and the Buccaneers,’ over a female student allegedly snatched by the Capone of the Black Axe for Valentine celebration.

The action of the Capone , the source said did not go down well with the other group leading to the clash.
A student who witnessed the shooting said besides the two cult members who were shot dead, about four others sustained injuries and were ferried out of the campus by their leaders to shield their identity.

The sources said the cult members who carried out the attack were not UNILAG students but members from another campus, adding that the attack was carried out in a commando style with sporadic shooting.
An undergraduate student of English Department told Daily Sun that the Buccaneers’ group attacked the Black Axe members while another student returning from the Mosque said those who carried out the killing were not from UNILAG because they did not cover their faces.

It was learnt that as soon the shooting started, students scampered for safety while others took cover behind the wall and under cars packed around, while others ran into the halls to avoid being hit by stray bullets. 
A senior lecturer who confirmed the killings said the university management had met to curtail any reprisal attack while security personnel had taken over the investigation of the deadly cult clash.
When Daily Sun visited the troubled institution yesterday, there was uneasy calm, as most staff and students rebuffed efforts made by the reporters to get their comments.

However, one of the students who resides at Sodeinde Hall, said there was sporadic gunshots outside the premises which caused panic everywhere. 
It was gathered that the crisis, which erupted when the students were at the peak of lovers’ day celebration, created stampede on the campus as people ran for safety.

One of the victims of the attack reportedly ran into Sodeinde Hall for help, from where he was taken to the hospital.
Although the Hall Master of Sodeinde Hall declined comments on the issue, one of the officials, who wouldn’t want his name published, said the attack could not be linked to any cult group. He said there was increasing speculation that the perpetrators of the attack could be fighting for love. Efforts made by Daily Sun our reporter to ascertain the identities of the victims were unsuccessful.
The news bulletin of the university, Information Flash (ISSN 08195540) also captured the incident, while assuring the staff and students of the university of adequate security.

“The attention of the universities authorities has been drawn to the incident which occurred in one of the Halls of Residence in the late hours of Monday, February 14, 2011 where two persons were reportedly injured in fracas. The university management has commenced investigation into the unusual incident, in particular at a time when preparation for the first semester examinations due to commence on February 21, 2011 are in top gear. Security has been intensified to ensure safety of life and property on campus. Law enforcement agents have been involved to assist the university in this respect,” it said. 
Daily Sun learnt that students are leaving the campus because of the fear of reprisal attack while some parents called their wards on phone to return home until the situation is brought under control. 

The Deputy Registrar Information of UNILAG, Mr. Dare Adebisi refused to pick his calls or replied to text message sent to his phone.
When the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Samuel Jinadu (DSP) was called thrice, he promised to contact the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in the area and did not call back as at the press time....