N2.9bn Fraud: Contracts Awarded by Fintiri, Ex-Adamawa Gov, Not Approved –Witness

A prosecution witness, Ibrahim Welye, on June 7, 2017 told a Federal High Court, Abuja, that there were no approvals for contracts awarded by a former Adamawa State governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, for the electrification of Kirshinga village in Madagali Local Government area of the state.

Fintiri, who was brought before Justice A.R. Mohammed on June 30, 2016 by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is standing trial alongside his company, Mayim Construction and Properties Limited on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N2.9billion.

At today’s proceeding, Welye, a former Secretary to the Adamawa State government, revealed that the contract which cost about N75 million, had no approval.

“The Ministry of Finance released the sum of N75 million to the Ministry of Rural Infrastructure and Community Development for the execution of the project,” he said, noting that “there was no approval for the project.”

Welye had in a May 11, 2015 petition to the EFCC allege that Fintiri diverted N497 million for the construction of lecture hall for the Faculty of Law, Adamawa State University, Mubi, as he only laid the foundation and never completed the project.

When asked by Mahmud Magaji, SAN counsel for Fintiri, if he still stood by his petition, which he also sent a reminder to the EFCC dated November 18, 2015, Welye answered in the affirmative.

“My lord, I stand by the petition written against Ahmadu Fintiri,” he said.

Magaji thereafter took the witness through some exhibit which had to do with instruments showing inflow into the Zenith Bank account of Adamawa State Capital Project from Adamawa State University, Mubi dated June  3, 2014 captioned  "Adamawa State University, Mubi signed by V.C Alkasum Abba, document for the release of N978,756,000”. He then asked if he still stood by his allegation.

Prosecution counsel, Aso Larry Peters, however, objected to the question, noting that “the documents contained in the exhibit are bank printouts, and the witness is not a banker and there is no affidavit by any banker in support of the document”.

“Under Section 90 (1) (e) of the Evidence Act, only a banker can speak to truth of these documents, and the witness, not being a banker should not be asked a question relating to bank statement,” he said.

Justice Mohammed has adjourned to September 19, 2017 for “continuation of hearing”.

U.S. might expand laptop ban to 71 airports: Homeland Security

The U.S. government might expand a ban on larger electronics like laptops in airplane cabins to flights originating from dozens of airports in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the head of Homeland Security said on Wednesday, though an expansion could be avoided if countries agree to improved security procedures.

The U.S. restrictions imposed in March currently cover about 350 flights a week originating from 10 airports, primarily in the Middle East. Extending the ban to all European airports that directly serve U.S. airports would affect nearly 400 flights a day and cover 30 million travelers and pose major logistical challenges, airlines and security officials say.

"We are looking right now at an additional 71 airports," Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly told a House of Representatives panel. "We're also looking at ways that we think we can mitigate the threat" without expanding the ban.

Kelly said his deputy will attend a conference in Malta next week "to present what we think are the minimum increased security standards ... and present those to people to say if you meet these standards we will not ban large electronics."

The restrictions on laptops announced in March, including on flights originating from airports in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, came amid fears that a concealed bomb could be installed in electronic devices taken aboard aircraft.

Britain quickly followed suit with restrictions on a slightly different set of routes.

Kelly said many countries are working to not be added to the ban list by improving screening to "detect this very sophisticated device."

He called the danger real. "This is a very serious constant threat to knock down an airplane," Kelly said.

Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan declined to identify the 71 airports that are under consideration.

Any move to restrict carrying larger electronics to the cargo hold of aircraft has potential safety implications related to past problems with laptop batteries. Kelly said he is reviewing those concerns.

"This is a difficult issue that the administration is grappling with especially from a security point of view," Chao said.U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao at a Senate hearing on Wednesday said lithium ion batteries on airplanes can be a problem.

A laptop fire in a cabin can be detected quickly, versus a device stored in a cargo hold. On May 30, a New York JetBlue Airways Corp flight bound for San Francisco was diverted to Michigan because of a lithium battery fire from a passenger laptop in the airplane cabin. -Reuters

CCTV Footage Of Zenith Bank Owerri Robbery Attack Surfaces

 The robbery occurred on 22nd February, 2017 at a Zenith Bank Branch along Wetheral road Owerri, Imo State

Nigerian Businessman Gets Life In Prison For Shotgun Murder Of A Woman

The last time Bernard Melvin heard from his daughter Carrie, she was calling him to wish him a happy birthday. It was the summer of 2015, and she was living in Hollywood and starting her own social media business. She told him she was the happiest she had ever been and loved her life.

Weeks later, her father received unimaginable news. Carrie had been killed by a man who fired a shotgun blast at her face as she walked with her boyfriend to a Thai restaurant in Hollywood.

On Monday, Bernard Melvin stood in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom moments before the man convicted of his daughter’s murder was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Telling his wife and relatives that his 30-year-old daughter was dead was the “hardest thing” he has ever done, Melvin said. “I feel as though I have lost a limb,” he said, his voice cracking. Since then, he said, he has held his wife as she cries herself to sleep, and shed tears with Carrie’s boyfriend.

“I have tried to answer my family’s questions, but how do you explain a completely senseless act? We cry every day,” Melvin said.

The victim’s older brother, Ryan, said Ezeoma Chigozie Obioha’s insistence that he is innocent compounded the family’s grief. He said he experiences recurring nightmares about his sister’s murder.

“Every day it hurts when I wake up and realize she is gone,” he said.

Obioha, who was convicted last year of first-degree murder, sat showing no emotion.

At one point during the hearing, Obioha’s sister, Nkechi Howell, told the court, “Judge, you're sending an innocent man to prison.”

Prosecutors alleged that Obioha acted after Melvin spurned his romantic interest in her and then filed a complaint with state officials alleging that he owed her more than $1,000 for work she had done marketing his clothing line on social media.

And they attacked a six-man photographic lineup that two witnesses — Melvin’s boyfriend and a security guard who saw the attack — used to identify Obioha as the gunman.

After the guard described the shooter as “abnormally dark,” he pointed out two possible suspects from the lineup. One was Obioha, whose photo was the darkest in the lineup.

“That is manipulated,” attorney Dana Cole told jurors during the trial, referring to the photo. “That is totally manipulated, and it’s just not right.”

Obioha’s mother also told jurors that her son was at home the night of the slaying. Deputy Dist. Atty. Michelle Hanisee suggested that Obioha’s family had lied and fabricated evidence to protect him.
In phone calls from jail, she added, Obioha gave his family different explanations about what happened to his gun.

First, he said that it had been stolen. Then, that Melvin’s boyfriend had taken it to set him up. Lastly, he said it had been planted by an ocean photographer who wanted his Instagram and Facebook accounts featured on the news, the prosecutor said.

In court, the victim’s father said that after sitting through the trial and hearing the evidence, he’s convinced that Obioha was the person who killed his daughter. He urged Obioha to accept the sentence.

How Police, Army, SSS, INEC, others shared in $115m ‘Diezani bribe’ – Witness

The Federal High Court in Lagos Thursday heard how several individuals and public officials shared in an alleged bribe of $115m paid by a former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, to compromise the 2015 general election.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) named the officials Thursday during the trial of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr. Dele Belgore before Justice Rilwan Aikawa.
In two documents it tendered before the court, the anti-graft agency said the persons benefited from N450 million and N155, 220,000 out of the $115m (about N36 billion) Diezani cash.
The disbursements, which the EFCC claimed were bribes, were contained in a document titled, “Security and Transportation per State”, and another one titled, “Kwara State”.

According to the first document, the Resident Assistant Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in Kwara State at the time got N1 million cash, the Commissioner of Police (COP) in Kwara State at the time received N10m cash, while the Deputy COP in charge of Operations got N2 million cash.
Also, the Assistant Commissioners of Police in charge of operations and administration in Kwara State, received N1 million cash each.

The document also showed that the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kwara State for the 2015 general elections got N10 million cash, while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Administrative Secretary in Kwara State at the time received N5 million cash.
According to the document, INEC’s Head of Department, Operations and “his boys” were given N5m, while “other officers” received and shared N2m among themselves.

Also listed as beneficiaries of the alleged bribe in Kwara State were the “OC Mopol” and “his men”, who got N7 million, “2iC Mopol” and men in the state, who got N10m; the Director of the State Security Service (SSS) and his men, who got N2.5m.
The military in Kwara State was bribed with N50m, according to the document, while other security agencies including the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) got N20m..

An EFCC investigator Usman Zakari, who brought the document, told the court that it was recovered from Belgore.
Belgore is accused of collecting N450m from Diezani and distributing same to beneficiaries in Kwara State.
The EFCC said he handled the cash without going through any financial institution, contrary to sections 1(a), 16(d), 15(2)(d) and18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012.

According to the commission, the offence is punishable under sections 15(3)(4), and 16(2)(b) of the same Act.
Standing trial along with Belgore for the offence is a former Minister of National Planning, Prof. Abubakar Suleiman.
The SAN and the don were arraigned on charges of money laundering on February 8, 2017 but they pleaded not guilty.

Zakari is the second witness to be called by the EFCC in its efforts to prove its case.
Testifying before Justice Aikawa on Thursday, the witness explained that Belgore volunteered the list to the EFCC when he was invited and interrogated by the anti-graft agency.
The investigator pointed out Belgore’s endorsement on the document, stating: “document supplied by me, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN).”

The second document the EFCC said it recovered from Belgore, also showed showed beneficiaries of a sum of N155, 220,000 and the breakdown of what they got.
Among them were 15 electoral officers who each received, 250,000; 15 supervisors, who got N100, 000 each; state Returning Officers who got N1m, among others.

The two documents were tendered by the EFCC prosecutor, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, and admitted in evidence as Exhibit 7 and 7A, against Belgore and Suleiman, as their lawyers, Mr. Ebun Shofunde (SAN) and Mr. Olatunji Ayanlaja (SAN), raised no objection.

In his evidence, Zakari told the court that the EFCC’s findings showed that the money was disbursed in cash to the beneficiaries.
“My Lord, the mode of payment, as contained in Exhibit 7, is cash payment. The payments were not done through any financial institution,” Zakari said.

Meanwhile, Justice Aikawa entertained Belgore’s application seeking the dismissal of the charges on the grounds that the EFCC failed to attach an affidavit showing that it had concluded investigation in the case before bringing the case to court.

Moving the application on Thursday, Belgore’s lawyer, Shofunde, argued that the failure of the EFCC to attach an affidavit saying it had concluded investigation before filing the charges was a fundamental breach of the Federal High Court Practice Direction and which had rendered the charges incompetent.
He urged Justice Aikawa to quash the charges and free his client.

But in opposition, the EFCC lawyer, Oyedepo, argued that the current law governing criminal cases in the country was the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

He argued that the ACJA did not list filling of the said affidavit as one of the conditions that must be fulfilled before a criminal charge could be filed in court, stressing that the provisions of the ACJA were superior to that of the Federal High Court Practice Direction.

Besides, he referred Justice Aikawa to Section 221 of the ACJA which barred a judge from entertaining any application challenging the competence of charges in a criminal case in the middle of trial and Section 396(2) of the Act, which barred a judge from ruling on any such application until judgment is delivered in the case.

While urging the judge to dismiss the application, Oyedepo said granting it would “amount to slaughtering justice on the altar of technicality.”
Justice Aikawa adjourned till July 7 for ruling. - The Nation

Funds shortage forces U.N. to cut emergency food aid for 400,000 in Northern Nigeria

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has had to scale back plans for emergency feeding of 400,000 people in Boko Haram-hit northeast Nigeria due to funding shortfalls, a top U.N. official said on Wednesday.


The decision to cut aid for some believed to be on the brink of famine comes as the onset of the annual rains threaten to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis. Farmers have been unable to plant or harvest crops for years due to the Islamist insurgency,

"The plan was from the beginning to reach 1.8 million (people) this year but due to the funding constraints WFP has been forced to come up with a contingency plan," said Peter Lundberg, the U.N.'s Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria.

The WFP is now focusing on supplying 1.4 million people deemed to be most at risk, with assistance for the remainder cut by around a third, Lundberg told Reuters in Maiduguri, capital of the hardest-hit state of Borno.

The U.N. says it needs $1.05 billion this year to deal with the crisis - one of three humanitarian emergencies unfolding in Africa - but has only received just over a quarter of that.

The reductions in Nigeria come a month after the WFP halved the monthly rations of more than 800,000 South Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda because of a lack of funds.


MAROONED
More than 20,000 people are thought to have died and 2.7 million have been displaced in Boko Haram's bloody eight-year battle to establish a medieval Islamic caliphate.

Two years ago, the group controlled an area the size of Belgium but a military push by Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger has ejected the militants from cities and major towns.

However, according to the latest U.N. assessments, huge swathes of land remain no-go zones, even with military escorts. As many as 700,000 people might still be trapped in these areas, Lundberg said.

The rainy season also makes it harder to bring in emergency supplies of food and medicine as dirt roads turn to rivers of mud for up to three months.

"Some of these places will be completely locked in because of the rain," Lundberg said. "When the rain comes, we know there will be very big challenges."

Furthermore, aid agencies have been prevented from building up large supply centres outside cities such as Maiduguri for fear they will be attacked.

In the town of Rann near the Cameroon border, nearly 50,000 people are about to become marooned with only two weeks' supply of food to hand, said Dana Krause, an emergency coordinator for the Swiss arm of the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

"The populations along the border are pretty much entirely dependent on external aid," Krause said. "And by the end of July, Rann will literally be an island."

As a last resort, a WFP spokeswoman said it was considering air drops for the most inaccessible areas.


Nigeria's military did not respond to a request for comment, - Reuters

Ritualist caught with human body parts in Kwara

An Ilorin Magistrates’ Court on Thursday remanded in prison custody a herbalist, Busari Abdulwasiu, for unlawful possession of human parts.

Magistrate Mohammed Lawal ordered that the accused be remanded at Mondala Prison, Ilorin and adjourned the case until June 19 for a mention.

The Prosecutor, Insp. Toying Olasupo told the court that the accused was apprehended on April 23 by residents of Ita-Kudimo area of Ilorin.
According to the prosecutor, the police saved the accused from being lynched by an angry mob.

He said that on interrogation, the accused could not give a satisfactory account of how he came about the human head and body parts.
The prosecutor said that police investigation revealed that Abdulwasiu was a herbalist using the human parts for rituals.

The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge of unlawful possession of human part.

Judiciary not on board with anti-corruption war, says Sagay

Itse Sagay, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), has said the judiciary is not on board with the federal government’s fight against corruption.

The chairman of the presidential advisory committee against corruption (PACAC) on Wednesday criticised the decision of the National Judicial Council (NJC) to recall the judges being investigated for corruption.

Speaking at a three-day conference on ‘Promoting International Cooperation in Combating Illicit Financial Flows and Enhancing Asset Recovery to Foster Sustainable Development’, he said the decision of the NJC may “undermine the integrity of the state”.

He described it as a dangerous precedent that may affect Nigeria’s future, owing to the importance of the judges in the affairs of the country.
“This decision by the NJC that judges who were arrested, and those who are on trial like Ademola, whose case is a life case, and others who have not been charged, but are going to be charged, calling them back is for me a sign of hostility to the fight against corruption,” he said.

“We cannot afford the judicial hierarchy to engage in espirit de corps with members of their group that are falling in the corruption struggle.
“They must join the executive whose mantra is total or near elimination of corruption for the sake of the survival of this country. Judges have a duty to join in this determination.

“So, that sort of decision that was taken gives the impression that they are hostile to the struggle. That’s one reason why I said they’re not on board.
“The judiciary, in my view, is the highest of the three arms of government. They are the only ones who adjudicate the disagreement between the other two. If you look at the set-up of the court they sit high above others and everybody is looking up at them.

“The rest of us apply, move, plead and they decide, and there’s no democracy about their decision. Their decision is binding. Calling them my lord is not an accident. After God, members of that group are the smaller lords.

“The judge who is guilty of corruption is almost guilty of a crime against humanity, because what he is doing is to undermine the whole integrity of the state. It means that when we have a major issue that can affect the future of the country, we can’t go to him, because he’s dishonest, he lacks integrity and is fraudulent and will not decide the case according to the justice of it.”

We don’t want Igbo in Nigeria - Northern youth

Despite the widespread condemnation that trailed their move to evict the Igbo out of the north, the northern youth coalition has insisted that those from the ethnic group must leave Nigeria.

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, had ordered their arrest, while Kashim Shettima, governor of Borno, said their position did not represent the view of the north.
Different stakeholders also condemned the group which gave Igbo until October 1 to vacate the north.

But in a statement on Thursday, the youth who stood their ground said they had received sympathy across the country.
They denied considering violence as a means of achieving their aim, accusing “merchants of mischief” of misrepresenting their thoughts.

“In strict observance of that tradition we never employ violence as a means of pursuing our interest and at every opportunity, we opt for peaceful engagements and implore people to eschew violence in all its ramifications,” the coalition said in a statement signed by Abdulazeez Suleiman, one of its leaders.

“This informs why, a majority of discerning Nigerians, not necessarily northerners alone, understood and identified with our express call for the Biafrans to be allowed to actualise their long-held secessionist aspiration.
“We restate that we have never called anybody to violence and that people should discountenance the elements of fear and threat introduced by the distortions of merchants of mischief.

“We wholeheartedly endorse the moves made variously by our leaders to allay those fears and urge people to be peaceful and law-abiding while at the same time resolutely insisting on having the right thing done by allowing the Igbo to have and move to their dream country in accordance with the universal fundamental right to self-determination.

“We restate our determination and commitment to ensuring that the north will never partake in any contrived arrangement that would still have the Biafran Igbo as a component.:
The groups called on the federal government and international orgniasation to facilitate a referendum that would quicken the exit of the Igbo.

“We reiterate our call on Nigerian authorities and recognised international bodies such as the ECOWAS, AU and UN to hasten the initiation of the process for the final actualisation of the Biafran nation and with it the excision of the Igbo out of the present federation,” the statemenr read.

“Despite the minor distortions that caused some measure of anxiety, we make bold to say that the cheerful responses to our position which flowed through the internet and by way of personal telephone conversations nationally and universally has resonated that peace-loving Nigerians who have been tormented and menaced by the irredentist proclivities of the Igbos are overwhelmingly desirous to put an end to it.

“As we acknowledge this outpouring of patriotic support across the nation, we implore people, particularly our cultured northerners to remain restraint in the face of any provocation from any quarter and to debate intelligently.

“We assure them that we shall be firm and resolute in honestly and painstakingly pursuing what we all know is a noble and just cause without hurting anyone.” - Cable Nigeria

My Wife Will Beat Me To Death If I Continue With The Marriage

“My wife will beat me to death one day if I continue with the marriage,’’ a 67-year-old man, Mr Olawale Jayeola, told an Igando Customary Court on Thursday in Lagos.

Olawale, an engineer, said his wife, Olatayo, was fond of punching him as if she were punching a bag, beating him like a baby.

“I have scars all over my body as proofs of her abuse. I live every minute of my life in fear. Save me from the cruel hands of my wife. “I have suffered so much in silence; anytime we had misunderstanding, she would beat the hell out of me,” he said.

 According to him, the marriage has been turbulent and fraught with fights and quarrels.“I have not been at peace since l got married to my wife; she is so quarrelsome. “I brought her to court in 2013 for the dissolution of the marriage, but she begged me and promised to change.

“The court asked her to write an undertaking not to be beating me again, which she wrote and the case was put on “sine die’’ stage.

“She has refused to change. Instead, her behaviour toward me has been hostile and the beating continued unabated,” the plaintiff said.

He said that his wife lacked care for him and was not giving him food.

Olawale also alleged that his wife threatened to burn his two cars.

“Please, end this loveless marriage before my wife terminates my life,” he said.

The defendant, Olatayo, however, denied all the allegations.

“I never beat my husband neither did I threaten to burn his cars,” she said.The mother of three said she was not a troublemaker, but peaceful, noting that she was taking good care of her husband.

She pleaded passionately with the court not to dissolve the marriage, saying she was still in love with her husband.

The president of the court, Mr Adegboyega Omilola, ordered the couple to come along with three members of their families each, for Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).

He adjourned the case until July 25 for further hearing.

Japan has been in recession for 15 years but Buhari’s govt pulling us out of it after a year - Femi Adesina

In an interview with The Sun, Adesina said while Japan has been in recession for 15 years, Venezuela is yet to recover from its economic crisis.

“The CBN has been confident to put a time frame that Nigeria will exit recession; the third quarter of this year. If you remember that Japan has been in recession for 15 years, I think you must give kudos to this administration that it is coming out of a recession after just one year,” he said.

“Check all the prognosis: IMF, World Bank, Bloomberg, Central Bank of Nigeria –everybody –their projection is that, this year Nigeria, will exit recession. Recession is the consequences of actions and inactions.”

Comparing Nigeria to Venezuela, Adesina said: “We should still be thankful that we are not as bad as Venezuela. Venezuela is a mono-economy like Nigeria, and the standard of living in Venezuela was ahead of Nigeria, but today, it is worse than Nigeria.

“There are food queues and all sorts of riots in Venezuela, because the economy collapsed since it was a mono-economy. The same thing happened to Nigeria, but we are still thankful to God.”
When asked the extent to which the president had delivered his campaign promises, the presidential spokesman said a definitive assessment could not be made until the end of the term.

He, however, said judging based on the performance in the last two years, the administration had done well.
“It is only somebody who wants to be very unfair to this administration that will say that war is at the same level it was two years ago,” Adesina said.

“You need to see how nightlife has returned to the cities in the north-east; you need to see roads that have been closed for three-four years now reopened and being used; emirs that ran away from their palaces and Boko Haram took over those palaces are back now.

“Gombe never had NYSC for about two-three years. Today, NYSC orientation is taking place in Gombe. Damboa-Maiduguri Road, among other roads that were closed in the north-east, has been reopened. So, the intensity of that insurgency has reduced considerably.

“What we are seeing now is a final mopping up process. There are people that you call bitter-enders; they fight to the bitter end.

“Anti-corruption is something this government is fighting vigorously and you can see that the amount that has been recovered is enormous.
“You can check the statistics given by the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Information respectively. And those ones didn’t include the latest recoveries.

“In March-April alone, the amount recovered was staggering. So much money has been recovered that, in the 2017 budget that is being considered, a lot of recovered money is involved. In the 2016 budget, the recovered money was also put in the budget.
“When monies are recovered, they are not spent immediately; they are put into a special account and then deployed in the budget the following year. A lot is being done, and many people are in court.”

On the president’s state of health and his absence in the country, Adesina said, “It is only a man who is alive that can administer a country, and nobody is immune to ill health.

“You are not quite right. If anybody hears you now and hear prolonged vacations, he will think it has been happening since. It is only this year that we are talking of prolonged vacation.
“The vacation he took last year was only 10 days. This year, he left in January and returned in March; and he left again in May.
“You can only rule a country when you are healthy. When ill health comes, you have to take care of yourself.”

Ethnic tensions bubble in Nigeria in echo of Biafra civil war

A northern Nigerian state's governor on Wednesday ordered the arrest of activists for demanding the eviction of eastern Igbo people, amid rising tensions between ethnic groups that hark back to the country's Biafra civil war.

Secessionist feeling has simmered in Nigeria's east since the Biafra separatist rebellion, a mainly Christian Igbo movement, tipped the country into a civil war from 1967 to 1970 that killed an estimated 1 million people.

Since 2015, those sentiments have heightened, spurred by a lack of economic development and fears of Islamic encroachment, often blamed on the government of Muslim President Muhammadu Buhari. That has in turn sparked ill will toward secessionists, especially from northern Muslims.

"All Igbos currently residing in any part of northern Nigeria are hereby served notice to relocate within three months and all northerners residing in the East are advised likewise," a spokesman for a movement called the Northern Youth Groups said on Tuesday in the northern city of Kaduna.

He called for "sustained, coordinated campaigns" to remove Igbo people from the region.

The Northern Youth Groups coalition is made up of organizations who claim to promote the interests of the region.

The widespread slaughter 51 years ago of Igbos living in Nigeria's north helped spur the Biafran secession from 1967-70, which led to war against Nigeria's central government and a famine in which millions died.

Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai on Tuesday ordered the arrest of the signatories to the Northern Youth Group statement, condemning their "inciting" and "hate speech."

The Kaduna government "assures every resident of our state that their constitutional and human rights to live peacefully and own property wherever they choose is sacrosanct," a spokesman for El-Rufai said in a statement.

Nigeria has in recent years seen a rise in other ethno-religious conflicts, particularly deadly clashes between Muslim herders and Christian farmers, partly over land use, in the region known as the Middle Belt. - Reuters

Al-Shabaab seize Somali town after overrunning army base

Al Shabaab militants captured a town in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region on Thursday, a senior official said, and the group said it had killed at least 61 soldiers in the fighting.

“Al Shabaab attacked Af Urur town this morning. There were few soldiers there and thus al Shabaab captured the town. It is difficult to know the casualties because the telecommunications were cut off,” Bari region governor Yusuf Mohamed told Reuters.

The al Qaeda-linked group said it had also killed 61 soldiers after over-running a military base in the town.

“The number could rise since the operation is still underway,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military spokesman said in a statement.

Musab said their fighters had also seized weapons and vehicles from the base.

Al Shabaab’s insurgency aims to drive out African Union peacekeepers, topple Somalia’s Western-backed government and impose its strict version of Islam on the Horn of Africa state.

Osinbajo arrives Maiduguri hours after Boko Haram attack

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo is currently in Maiduguri, Borno state, to launch the special intervention relief plan for internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Osinbajo’s visit is coming hours after Boko Haram members attacked some towns in Maiduguri, the capital city, burning houses and killing residents.
On Wednesday, security agents engaged the insurgents in a gun battle that lasted hours. Though residents were assured of safety, many of them fled their homes.

The acting president visited the palace of the shehu of Borno where he said that it matter to President Muhammadu Buhari that IDPs are fed.
Under the special intervention relief plan, bags of grains will be distributed to IDPs quarterly.

911 call for ride to Hooters ended with trip to Florida jail

A Florida man wanted to go to Hooters so badly that authorities say he told 911 dispatchers he needed a ride to the restaurant because his grandmother had just suffered a stroke in the parking lot.

Instead, 28-year-old Jonathan Hinkle got a ride to the Brevard County Jail Tuesday night after deputies searched for three hours for his grandmother. When they finally found her at another location, she said she hasn't had a stroke or asked anyone for help.

News outlets say Hinkle told the dispatcher he'd pay responders to take him to the Hooters on Florida's Atlantic coast.

Hinkle was arrested on charges of misusing 911. He was released on bond Wednesday night and records don't list an attorney for him.

Video : Meet the £2.5M Whiskey Drinking Bull

An increasingly isolated Trump joins the battle of his life

Donald Trump has faced down a litany of scandals in his nearly 71 years, surviving bankruptcy, divorce, lawsuits and vulgar exposes. 

But less than six months into his White House tenure, he finds himself locked in his toughest fight yet -- the battle to save his presidency.
On Thursday, former FBI director James Comey will appear in the Senate and testify under oath that, before he was fired, Trump urged him to shelve a major counter-espionage investigation and demanded his "loyalty."

That has opened the door to allegations the president may have obstructed justice, which could possibly lead to impeachment charges.
Pundits and punters will argue the legal merits of those allegations long after Comey's must-see testimony.

But the ultimate judgment will be political and for now, the odds are stacked in Trump's favor.
Only Congress can prosecute a sitting president and Republicans -- even those who reluctantly backed Trump and decry him in private -- are loath to commit political fratricide and oust a democratically-elected president without a cast iron reason.
Trump seems determined to put that support to the test.

- Story of a Renegade -

He enters this political battle armed with a street-fighting temperament that has proven as much a liability as an asset for his presidency.
For the last 150 or so days, Trump has lurched from crisis to crisis, tweeting away his public support and increasingly alienating allies who hold his political fate in their hands.

According to a Morning Consult poll, 69 percent of voters say Trump uses Twitter too much.
Inside the White House, aides describe a miasma of frustration, anger and resentment as Trump undermines his staff and rips up plans with unscripted remarks or Twitter outbursts.
That tendency was on display Wednesday, just hours before Comey's written Senate testimony was released a day before his appearance.
At 7:44 am, Trump announced the nomination of Christopher Wray to replace Comey as his FBI director.

No one was surprised that the Twitter-loving president made his "big reveal" on the social media platform.
What did surprise his staff and lawmakers -- who must now guide his nomination through Congress -- was that they did not get a heads-up.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer and his deputy Sarah Huckabee Sanders were kept in the dark, officials said, and it took them hours to catch up and make the case for Trump's pick.
Top Republicans including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate leader Mitch McConnell were not told of Wray's nomination when they visited Trump at the White House the day before, according to sources familiar with the meeting.
To Washington watchers, the steadily ebbing loyalty among those in the West Wing and on Capitol Hill is almost palpable.

The chaotic nature of the Trump administration means that spokespeople are frequently sent out to face the media with minimal information, unable to say, for example, whether Trump believes in climate change or has confidence in his attorney general.

"I have not had a discussion with him about that," Spicer said in a recent response to questions.
He is not alone. Just this week, a string of early morning tweets from Trump put in peril a major US military base in Qatar, which his Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis once ran.

Another Twitter outburst questioned the performance of Attorney General Jeff Sessions's Justice Department in handling Trump's proposed ban on travelers from some Muslim countries, currently frozen by the courts.

On a recent trip to Brussels, Trump stunned European allies and his entire foreign policy team by removing a line from his speech that highlighted US support of NATO's collective security.
Trump believes his bareknuckle style plays to his base -- something that is much needed with a recent poll showing his approval rating hovering just above 30 percent.

It remains to be seen whether that will be enough. Through unpopular outbursts, and by bucking his staff and Republicans allies during a crisis, he may be kicking away a pillar holding up his increasingly fragile presidency. - AFP