Fulani herdsmen ( boko haram ) kill woman, destroy 200 acres of farmland in Ondo

Fulani herdsmen on Thursday killed a woman on her farmland and destroyed farm produce on over 200 acres of farmland in Arodoye community, Akure South Local Government of Ondo state.

Farmers in the community are still counting their losses after the herdsmen invaded their farms.

The farmers decried the incessant invasion of the herdsmen on their farms, adding that millions of Naira have been lost to the destruction of their farms by destroying their farm produce.

The farmers listed some of the farm produces destroyed by the herdsmen to include, Cassava, cocoyams, yams, vegetables while some part of cocoa farm was set on fire.

Speaking on behalf of the farmers, Justice Micheal Omoyemi, traced the genesis of the invasion to December 2016 when the herdsmen harvested most of the farm produce during the Christmas /New Year break.

He said “the herdsmen also returned last December destroying over 5,000 heaps of cassava in my farm. They took the advantage of the break and brought their cattle and uprooted the cassava to feed their cows.

“We have reported the herdsmen to the security agents in the past and also to the traditional ruler of Akure, Deji of Akureland, Oba Aladelusi Aladetoyinbo who promised to wade into the matter.

“The herdsmen are determined to send the farmers out of the farm in the south west unless steps are taken by the concerned authorities, hence it will degenerate to ethnic clashes in the south west. What they have destroyed in a twinkle of an eye is worth million of Naira”

Also speaking, one of the farmers, Victory Oweh, said he lost over ten acres to the herdsmen and their cows, saying, the herdsmen also set his farm on fire after destroying his farm.

He said “we are just respecting the law of the land and trying not to take law into our hands. We have been reporting them to the security agents with no positive results.”

He disclosed that he voluntarily resigned from office some two years ago to embrace farming, but said the incessant invasion on his farm has been discouraging him.

He said “I cannot imagine working all through the year and some herdsmen and their cattle will invade our farms to destroy all my labour in just one day.

“Ondo state government should follow the steps taken by the Ekiti state government by enacting laws to curb the activities of the herdsmen in the state. We are calling on the state government and security agents in the state before taking laws into our hands.”

He explained that one of the farmers, Patience Salami, was killed on her farm by the herdsmen some three weeks ago, while there no arrest was made to bring the perpetrators to book.

Speaking on the implications of the development, Justice Owoyemi, said with the incessant invasion of herdsmen on farms in the area, “people will be sent out of the farm, this will affect food production in the South west.

“Some people depend on farming while some people are destroying these farms, this will not encourage farming. Most of these people here depend on the farm produce to cater for their family and send their children to school.”

Justice Owoyemi however disclosed that the farmers had petition the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, Security agencies and the Ministry of Agriculture to intimate them on the havoc wreck on farmlands in the area. - Daily Post

Jungle republic : It’s a shame that Nigeria can’t refine its oil - Kachikwu

Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, says it’s a shame that Nigeria cannot refine its crude oil after 40 years of activities in the downstream.

Kachikwu said this on Thursday when he appeared before the senate committee on petroleum (downstream).

He said the ministry and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) were working round the clock to find a solution to petrol scarcity.

As part of the solutions to permanently end the scarcity, Kachikwu said the country’s refinery needs to be functional.

“In what I might call an emergency before the work that we are doing on the refineries that would be finished sometime in 2019,” Kachikwu said.

“I want to remind that over two years we haven’t had queues. We are spending night and day to find solutions to nip this in the bud.

“Ultimately what this country needs is to have its refineries working and I have said that it is shameful that after 30, 40 years of activities in the downstream, cannot produce sufficient [petroleum products]. I have said nobody sells crude in its form in the world and we have to have the technical capacity to do this.”

He listed non-payment to marketers as one of the reasons for the scarcity. The minister also expressed regrets that some people took advantage of the situation. - Cable Nigeria

Pay your Mother $1 Million For Raising you, Taiwan Court Orders Man

The highest court in Taiwan has ordered a man to pay his mother almost $1 million (£740,000) for raising him and paying for him to attend dentistry school.

The mother, identified only by her surname Luo, sued her second son for breaching a contract the duo signed in 1997.

Her son, Chu, was 20 years old when he signed the financial support agreement that stated he would pay his mother 60 percent of his monthly income after qualifying from his dentistry training, reported Taiwan News.

After graduating, Chu refused to abide by the terms of the contract. He argued that it his mother should not receive financial compensation for raising her biological child and that he was only a sophomore when he signed the agreement therefore it should be deemed invalid, according to Taiwan News.

After a rigorous legal battle, the Taiwanese Supreme Court ruled that the contract was valid and Chu was ordered to pay $1 million in back payments and interest to his mother.

In Taiwan, an adult offspring is legally obligated to provide for their elderly parents. Generally, however, most parents do not sue if their children breach this civil code, according to the BBC.

Luo held that she accrued more than $675,800 in debt after raising her two sons as a single parent. She made her sons sign a contract because she feared that they would not fulfil their social obligation to take care of her, reported the BBC.

During the hearing, Chu held that the terms of the agreement said that he was liable to pay back all the expenditure his mother incurred raising him and extra money to compensate her for the time spent nurturing him.

He then made a case for how the contract should be deemed void as these stipulations were against social morals and public customs.

The court rejected these claims and ruled that Chu was an adult under the eyes of the law when he initially signed the contract and it was thus a valid agreement.

 - Newsweek

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Land of rob them I rob you !!! Domestic staff steals lawmaker’s safe containing cash, others, returns only passport

Special Anti-Kidnapping and Cyber Crime Squad, SAKCCS of the Delta State Police Command, Asaba, has apprehended a Beninoise, Tagboe Celestine, who allegedly carted away his principal’s safe.

It was gathered that his boss, Angela Nwaka, is a member of the Delta State House of Assembly, representing Aniocha North Constituency.

On opening the safe, the suspect allegedly found an international passport belonging to Nwaka, among others.

He was said to have returned same to his former boss through a courier company.

Celestine had burgled the house and stole the safe containing money, jewelleries and other valuables last year.

He allegedly sneaked into Abuja where he was arrested by the Police.

Outgoing Commissioner of Police, Zanna Ibrahim, narrated the crime to newsmen.

“Acting on technical intelligence at the Command’s disposal, operatives of SAKCCS, November 22, 2017, arrested at Lagos one Sule Ahmed, 32, who harboured the principal suspect and also assisted him in unlocking the safe.”

“Ahmed also shared in the proceeds. He provided useful information that led to the arrest of the 40-year-old prime suspect at Abuja.

“The suspects have confessed to the act and that the case would soon be charged to the court,” he said.

The police boss, however, lamented that Nigerians fail to cross-check the background of their house helps.

Bayelsa State Governor accuses FG of politicising national security

The Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, on Thursday, accused the Federal Government of playing politics with the national security.

Dickson further alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari was not personally in charge of the country’s critical security architecture.

The governor said Buhari’s failures to be in charge of the nation’s security and engage critical stakeholders was the reason why APC leaders were playing politics with security.

Dickson in a press statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Francis Ottah Agbo, said some APC chieftains had taken advantage of the dysfunctional and imperfect federal structure to hijack the security architecture.

He lamented that they were using the security structures to torment innocent citizens for their selfish ends and by so doing , causing national insecurity.

Dickson said the wind of insecurity blowing across the nation and particularly the upsurge in herdsmen/farmers clashes were fueled by politicisation of security by the Federal Government.

He, therefore, called on Buhari to personally handle security matters and engage state governors with a view to knowing their specific challenges in the various states.

Dickson also called on the President to call his party leaders especially, persons in Bayelsa State to order; to desist from sponsoring insecurity in the sate.

He said some APC leaders in the state were using the name of the President to compromise security by intimidating security agencies, stockpiling arms and ammunition, killing and ransacking communities at will.

The governor said he formally reported the matter to the President and relevant authorities but lamented that instead of bringing the perpetrators to book, the Federal Government, to his utmost chagrin, not only shielded the criminals from prosecution but provided them with security.

The said: “These APC leaders exploit the fact that Mr. President is not personally involved in the handling of national security to breach national peace and security .

“They know that he is not in charge of the critical issues of national security because he is not personally handling them the way he should.

“So they take advantage of the President’s attitude and the dysfunctional Nigeria state to intimidate and blackmail security agencies for their selfish interest and in the process, endanger the safety of lives and property of Nigerians.

“These APC leaders use the name of the President to sponsor criminals to unleash savage violence on innocent citizens. Their aim is to cause panic and force them to align with them.

“A case in point is in Bayelsa State where some APC leaders hide under the protection of the Federal Government to stockpile arms and ammunition to maim and kill innocent citizens just to instill fear in them.

”I have personally reported this to Mr. President and to the best of my knowledge, there has not been any decisive action from him or the Federal Government.

“Instead of prosecuting these criminals, the Federal Government has beefed up security around them. The politicisation of national security must stop for there can be no country without security!”

The governor also condemned the recent killings across the country and warned that the country would cease to have a future if the Federal Government failed to urgently unite the peoples of Nigeria to avert the nationwide senseless killings.

He stressing that the country was more than ever before too divided and unstable under the APC- led Federal Government. - The Nation

Mr dreamer !!! We’ll link state capitals to railway – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday commissioned 10 additional coaches and two locomotives to the standard gauge railway in Kaduna.

He had earlier commissioned the Inland Dry Port in Kakuri area of the city.

The President said his administration would link all Nigerian commercial and state capitals to the railway system to improve the nation’s socio-economic development.

He also warned Customs and Port officials from frustrating business activities at the Inland dry ports in major parts of the country.

Commissioning the additional locomotives and coaches at the Rigasa Railway Station, Kaduna, President Buhari said his government’s promise to connect all major Nigerian cities to railway was not statements of intentions, but a benchmark to measure the performance of the administration.

President Buhari said: “Let me once again reassure Nigerians that we are strongly committed to linking all major commercial and production centers as well as state capitals with railway system, as a way of bringing about rapid socio-economic development and improving the lives of our people. It was also conceived to encourage national integration.

“This is not only a statement of intentions, but a benchmark which we are using to measure the performance of our administration. Our resolve to develop our railway system to a world-class standard remains a top priority.

“Additional critical projects include the rail line from Lagos to Calabar, which branches off to Benin, Agbor and Onitsha, Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri. Standard gauge rail line will branch off to Owerri, Awka, Abakaliki, Yola and Damaturu and Kano to Kazaure, Daura, Katsina, Jibiya to link with Maradi in Niger Republic as part of regional railway interconnectivity.

“Other important projects which have been approved is the procurement of more locomotives, coaches, workshops and equipment that will be used for new standard gauge lines. By way of encouraging private sector participation in our railway development, negotiations for concession of the narrow gauge railways with a consortium are in progress.

“We are looking forward to a more efficient train service on the narrow gauge lines to be driven by the private sector. It is on the basis of this, that we are creating a more conducive environment for private sector, especially by strengthening our legal and regular trade frameworks.

“To achieve these, am using this opportunity to solicit for support of all relevant stakeholders and especially the National Assembly and our development partners in realizing these objectives.

“I commissioned and flagged off the Abuja-Kaduna train service in July last year, which was Nigeria’s first ever outstanding train service. I am glad that this service has become very useful to commuters and has even become the preferred form of transport for the commuters for journey between Abuja and Kaduna.”

While commending the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, for his tireless efforts towards the development of the railway system, Buhari reiterated the resolve of his administration to vigorously pursue the development of the country through the implementation of the 25 year strategic railway master plan. - The Nation

South Africa train crash : Fourteen dead and 100 people injured

Fourteen people are believed to have been killed and up to 100 injured after a train hit a lorry in South Africa, paramedics said.

The passenger train crashed into the lorry and a car in between Hennenman and Kroonstad in the country's Free State at about 9.15am local time (11.15am GMT) on Thursday.

Four people were initially confirmed dead, but a few hours after emergency crews arrived they announced 14 had been killed.

 "It is not yet confirmed but the death toll for now is sitting at 14," said Daisy Daniel, spokeswoman for long haul passenger rail service Shosholoza Meyl.

At least 100 people were injured, Russel Meirin, spokesman for emergency medical care organisation ER24 said.

"Provincial fire and medical services were the first to arrive on the scene, finding that several carriages were lying on the side," he added.

"A fire had broken out in one of the carriages and had begun to spread."

The train, owned by long-distance rail service Shosholoza Meyl, was reportedly full of people going back to Johannesburg from holiday in Port Elizabeth.

Train passenger Tiaan Esterhuizen said the train was "blowing its horn for a long time" before the crash.

 "We were in the restaurant section of the train eating breakfast when we felt a jerk and soon after the train came to a standstill.

"Some of the people told me afterward they heard the train blowing its horn for a long time before the accident happened.

"We took the train because we thought it would be safer than being on the roads." Overturned train carriages billowing smoke could be seen in the fields next to the track.

Victims were treated at the scene and others were taken to hospital.

Uninjured passengers looked to be in shock as they walked away from the wreckage with their luggage.- Sky

Da vultures !!! "Our State Governors Are The Richest Set Of Humans On Earth"

Some politicians and activists have disagreed with President Muhammadu Buhari on an issue he raised in his new year broadcast that Nigeria’s problems were mainly on processes and not the structure.

Buhari had during a nationwide broadcast, said that his view about agitations for restructuring was that Nigeria’s problems were more to do with process than the structure. The politicians and activists expressed disagreement with the President in separate interviews in Lagos on Thursday.

Chief Martin Onovo, a former Presidential Candidate of National Conscience Party, said that Nigeria’s problems were not mainly about processes.

“Nigeria’s problems are multifaceted including leadership, corruption, and skewed structure. It is wrong to claim that the problems border mainly on processes,’’ he said.

Onovo, however, urged the President to fulfill his campaign promises to Nigerians. Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, the President of Women Arise for Change Initiative, said that there could never be a good process without a proper structure.

“It is difficult to have a good process without a proper structure. It is a case of a software and hardware. You put software in hardware. Nigeria must first get its structure right and a good process shall be added unto it,’’ Okei-Odumakin. Mr. Ehiz Omokhuale, the Lagos State Chairman of Civil Liberty Organisation, said processes should be means to the main objective of restructuring.

“Any system needs a process, the process is not the destination as the president believes, he is postponing our evil day if he does not embrace restructuring."

“The present system is over concentrating at the center; it is a wasteful system, for instance, the National Assembly and states. Our state governors are the richest set of humans on earth. That is why most governors gravitate to the National Assembly after their tenure to combine the buffet," Omokhuale said.

Alhaji Musa Umar, a Chieftain in Kano Chapter of All Progressives Congress, urged Nigerians to understand the concept of restructuring.

“The concept of restructuring is not well understood by Nigerians, it means different things to varied opinions, ranging from power devolution, resource control, federal character and zoning of the presidency and so on."

“Whatever aspect of the Nigerian way of life we decide to restructure, it will come to naught if the processes are not right. However, being a democratic nation, if it is the wish of the majority to restructure, then let it be, we cannot run away from it forever."

“My fear is if we don’t have an attitudinal change and we can not get the processes right, restructuring may fail, then what?," Umar said. - Vanguard