Shocking !!! Many feared dead in Imo tanker’s fire incident

About 20 persons were reportedly burnt to death on Friday after a tanker loaded with Kerosene fell and caught fire.

The sad accident which claimed lives of all passengers happened at Njaba bridge, Orlu road in Imo State.

An eyewitness account revealed that the tanker that was headed to Owerri, suddenly lost control while climbing the hill on the Njaba Bridge and started rolling backward before it burst into flames, which engulfed on an eighteen seater bus that was following behind and burnt the whole occupants to death.

Kayode Aremu, the state commandant of FRSC who confirmed the tragedy to newsmen on Friday, said he had yet to be briefed about the casualty figure.

He said, “My men are at the scene of the incident on rescue mission and controlling traffic.

“We have not ascertained the cause of the accident and we don’t have the casualty figure yet.”

Besides, the state Police public Relations Officer, Andrew Enwerem, said, “Immediately we learnt of the incident, the command quickly contacted professional fire fighters.

“They are at the scene battling to extinguish the inferno. We don’t have the casualty figure yet. The situation is being managed,” the PRO added.

Face of killer !!! Apo Six: Nigeria Police Reinstates Officer Who Killed Igbo Traders

The Nigerian Police Force has ordered the reinstatement of Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Danjuma an officer responsible for the extra-judicial of killing five young auto spare parts traders and a young woman on June 7, 2005, in Apo township, a satellite settlement at the Federal Capital Territory in  Abuja.

The victims, Ekene Isaac Mgbe, Ifeanyi Ozor, Chinedu Meniru, Paulinus Ogbonna, Anthony Nwokike, and Augustina Arebu, were returning from a nightclub when they were stopped at a police checkpoint and extra-judicially murdered by a contingent of policemen led by Danjuma.

The directive for the officer’s reinstatement was contained in a Police wireless message (DTO 1718000/11/2017) addressed to the Police Service Commission. According to the wireless message, obtained by SaharaReporters claims the reinstatement of the officer Danjuma and other police officers included in the message following their successful "appeal of their dismissal from the Force". The officers are Danjuma Ibrahim, a Deputy Commissioner of Police; Fausat Azeez Oduwole, an Assistant Commissioner of Police; Bethram C Onuoha, Chief Superintendent,  Okwuonu Allwell, a Chief Superintendent; Nonyerem Ejike Akubuike; a Deputy Superintendent of Police; Barakiya Yusuf and Onuorah Emmanuel, both Assistant Superintendents of Police. However, Oseni Tajudeen, whose appeal was rejected, had his dismissal upheld.

DCP Ibrahim Danjuma, the wireless message showed, will be paid the arrears of his salary dating back to June 18, 2005, and sent on a refresher course. Danjuma was revealed as the officer who shot some of the traders and stranged the only female traveling that night they encountered the bloodthirsty police team.

The killing of the six persons provoked national outrage. The police had claimed that the victims, aged between 21 and 25 years, were members of a robbery gang that had shot at the officers at a checkpoint.

However, a judicial panel of inquiry set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo dismissed the police account as false and recommended the trial of the officers for extra-judicial killings.

The trial dragged for over a decade until two of the officers were sentenced to death in March 2017, curiously, Danjuma was freed by the judge who sat on the case. The officers accused of the killings and eight other police witnesses eventually testified before the panel of inquiry that Ibrahim, the Deputy Commissioner of Police and the most senior of the accused, had ordered the killings.

The report of the panel stated that the victims were at a nightclub located at Gimbiya Street, Area 11, in Abuja that night of June 7, 2005, when they had a face-off with Ibrahim after the only female among the victims, rejected Ibrahim’s romantic advances. - Sahara Reporters

Amazon's boss surpasses $100B net worth to become the first billionaire to hit the milestone since 1999

Business mogul Jeff Bezos' net worth jumped above $100 billion on Friday amid optimism for Amazon's Black Friday sales.

Bloomberg reported that the Amazon CEO's fortune surged $2.4 billion to $100.3 billion, after the retailer's shares grew more than 2 percent on Black Friday.

In passing the $100 billion mark, Bezos, 53, has become the first billionaire to hit the milestone since 1999. The last billionaire to do so was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

This year alone, Bezos' fortune has increased by $32.6 billion - more than anyone else on the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.

The owner of The Washington Post surpassed Gates as the world's richest person in October, according to Bloomberg. Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett holds the No. 3 slot on the list.

Unlike Gates and Buffett, Bezos has given relatively little of his fortune to charitable causes. In June, he tweeted a solicitation for ideas on a philanthropy strategy.

"I'm thinking I want much of my philanthropic activity to be helping people in the here and now - short term - at the intersection of urgent need and lasting impact," he wrote. - The Hill

Arsenal boss says Mesut Ozil has not agreed to join Barcelona

 Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger has denied speculation that Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has already agreed to move to Barcelona when his contract expires at the Emirates. The German is currently in his final year in contract and would be available to join any club on a free after the end of the season.

The player is also said to be on the radar of Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho, while recent reports in Spain claimed that Barcelona are also considering him as a cheaper alternative to Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho ahead of the January window.

When asked if the speculation is true, Wenger said, as quoted by Sky Sports, "No. What kind of control can I have over that [speculation]? All these people have agents who can talk to anybody. That doesn't disturb people, that happens all through their career.

"They are honest. I don't question their honesty. Nobody knows what will happen when the players reach the end of their contracts. Our worry is to perform on Sunday, that's it.

"They want to turn up and put in good performances. I have no concerns. I am more concerned about the team performance. Ozil and Alexis are praised when the team is doing well because of them, and when the team doesn't do well they get more criticism.

"I'm more concerned that the team focuses on strong performances. My worry is on Sunday. After that, I will care about the second half of the season later." 

Wenger recently admitted that the club may be forced to sell both Alexis Sanchez and Ozil in January if there is no breakthrough in contract negotiations before the transfer window reopens.

Arsenal are in a quandary since two of the north London club's best players will be able to leave the Emirates on free transfers after the end of the season. Both players will be able to talk to clubs in January and secure a pre-contract to join them for a lucrative contract when their tenure ends at the Emirates. - IBT

A Failed Presidency !!! CACOL blasts Nigerian government over plan to built more toll gates

The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, CACOL, has described the plans by the federal government of Nigeria to construct more than 48 toll gates in the country as an ‘unfortunate retrogressive slip.’

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) had during the week announced the plans of the Federal Government to construct over 38 new toll gates at the same spots where they were demolished during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Fashola had also told the Senate Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) that the tolls would be built through private concessionaires and fully commercialized.

Reacting to the development, Debo Adeniran, the Executive Secretary of CACOL in a statement, said the toll gates were part of the legacies of military misadventures into governance in the country.

He said toll gate is a drain pipe for unscrupulous merchants of power, official scamming of unwary public and often times causing irritating traffic gridlock leading to loss of productive man-hour.

His statement reads, “It suffices to note that Mr. Fashola has experimented with this idea when he was at the helms of Lagos State Government.

“He constructed the toll gates on the Ikoyi-Lekki link bridge for instance which eloquently testifies that this project are mere grand designs to extort motorist and never to ameliorate deteriorating transport system.

“In a more civilized, advanced democracy, the Mr. Fashola and this administration would be taken up to justify what the various taxes and levies imposed on the hapless citizens are use for, if tolls are now been constructed by private firms and fully commercialized against the provisions of our extant constitution.

“Nigerians are presently suffering under the heavy yoke of very, bad and deplorable roads across the nooks and crannies of the country.

“It is the expectation of the public that the Minister should been queried by the Senate on why FERMA has gone into self-induced permanent sleep under his watch while our roads have become death traps with high frequency of accidents leading to monumental loss of goods, properties and lives.

“It instructive to note with strong condemnation that out of N25Billion allocated to FERMA in the 2017 budget, only N800Million has thus far been used even as the year comes to an end.”

CACOL further called on all well meaning Nigerians to be weary of the antics of Fashola, nothing that it is manifestly clear that he is yet to deliver any tangible result in any of the three critical ministries under him.

He added, “It is trite to point his announced housing projects which have not taken off are never designed to provide low cost housing for the mass of working and toiling people, not even for the decimated Nigeria middle class but to shelter a few, over-indulged elite class.

“The promised improvement in the generation and distribution electric power remains a delusional mirage. There is no doubt that Mr. Fashola is pushing his three-star ministry along the same path he trekked while governing Nigeria, creating a haven for elites to viciously exploit the masses who are gated off in slum suburbs.

“The return of toll gates and exploitative fares under the guise of privatization and commercialization agenda would unleash un-mitigated hardships on Nigerians particularly less privileged, informal sector workers whose empowerments are needed to re-tunic the ailing economy.

“We call on all well meaning Nigerians, transport stakeholders and relevant government agencies to forcefully speak out against the return of toll gates and extorting toll fares on our roads.” - Daily Post