The Adamawa State Police Commissioner, Mohammed Ghazzali has been criticised over his comment and handling of the Fulani herdsmen attacks on Kodomun, following the discovery of eight more corpses.
Youths from Kodomun who brought out the corpses of the slain members of the community from the bush said, the recovery of the additional bodies had raised the death toll from the attacks which started on Friday to 30.
The incident, came on the day the Adamawa State Governor, Mohammed Jibrilla, visited the paramount ruler of the area, the Hama Bata, HRH Alhamdu Teneke, and held a security meeting with him at his palace with other service chiefs in the state in attendance.
Ghazzali, who visited the area on Monday shortly after the attacks by herdsmen, had reportedly claimed no life was lost.
Ghazzali’s denial of any casualty resulting from the attacks, while addressing journalists, after the security meeting, elicited anger from those present at the palace.
Ghazzali explained that his refusal to deploy policemen to Kodomun, which had come under attacks, from6 Fulani herdsmen, earlier on Friday and Saturday, before that of Monday was done so as not to make him look like “taking sides”
He said, “My men were on the ground. We would not risk our men to be there just to give security to one side so that the other side will not think we have taken side with one side.
“There are two different people involved in these clashes: the herdsmen and the farmers. And we have to be very careful in handling such type of communal clashes.”
It was, however, the police commissioner’s insistence that no life was lost in the Monday attacks which sparked the uproar.
The angry youths who threatened to unleash mayhem in the aftermath of his comment were dissuaded from their action by the elders in the palace.
The monarch, who said his people had been killed in the attacks, challenged the security chiefs to visit Kodomun, to find out for themselves if indeed there were “no deaths”.
He said, “A lot of people have been killed. Today they would go and see for themselves the corpses of those slain in the attacks some of which they would find in the town and those yet to be brought in lying in the bush.”
But Martins Babale, who represented the state governor, distanced the state government from the utterance of the police commissioner, saying” This is his own opinion. His professional opinion.”
Babale said he would visit the razed community after the military might have combed the area and recovered the corpses of those killed in the attacks.
What will AJ Styles say to John Cena on Smackdown?
AJ Styles loves to #BeatUpJohnCena – but he’ll deliver him a message on Tuesday’s Smackdown Live.
The Phenomenal One and Cena have come to blows regularly
since Styles and his Club stablemates, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson,
attacked the 15-time world champion on Memorial Day.
Live WWE: Late Night – Smackdown
August 3, 2016, 1:00am
Live on
Styles defeated Cena at Money in the Bank with help from Gallows and
Anderson but The Club was then beaten by Cena, Enzo Amore and Big Cass
in a six-man tag match at Battleground.
he beef between Styles and Cena seems far from over, though, so what
will the Georgian have to say for himself on Smackdown this evening,
from 1am on Sky Sports 5?
There will also be a blue-brand debut for NXT standouts Jason Jordan and Chad Gable, known collectively as American Alpha.
American Alpha are set for their Smackdown debut
Jordan
and Gable, acquired by Smackdown bosses Shane McMahon and Daniel Bryan
during the recent WWE Draft, enjoyed a 68-day reign with the NXT Tag
Team Titles earlier this year.
The pair’s amateur wrestling
pedigree and entertaining style won them legions of fans in Orlando,
Florida – but how will they fare during their maiden match on the main
roster?
Plus, what does Randy Orton have up his sleeve after
gate-crashing Monday Night Raw and laying out SummerSlam opponent, Brock
Lesnar, with an RKO?
Leroy Sane helped Germany reach the semi-finals at Euro 2016
Germany midfielder Leroy Sane has completed his move to Manchester City for a fee of £37m plus add-ons.
The 20-year-old has signed a five-year contract after leaving Schalke.
City
manager Pep Guardiola said: “He is a special talent and an exciting
player that I think our supporters will enjoy watching.”
Sane, who
helped Germany reach the semi-finals at Euro 2016, scored eight goals
in 33 Bundesliga appearances last season as Schalke finished fifth.
“He
has great technical ability, is comfortable on the ball and there is
much to admire about the way he plays football,” Guardiola added.
“He
is fast, enjoys creating chances for others, works hard for the team
and scores goals too. He also has a very positive attitude and will fit
in well.
“At 20, he is still developing as a player but he is
already a member of the German national side and I think he will be a
fantastic asset to our club.”
Sane could have been ‘another Usain Bolt’
Sane said one of the reasons for joining City was to work with Guardiola.
“I think he can make me a more complete player,” said Sane.
“I
think I will need a bit of time to start with because it’s another
league and there’s a different style of play, but I think I can adapt
very quickly.”
Ilkay Gundogan welcomes fellow summer signing and compatriot Sane to Manchester CitySource: BBC Sports
French President Francois Hollande on Tuesday slammed the “excesses”
of US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as sickening.
“His excesses make you want to retch, even in the United States,
especially when — as was Donald Trump’s case — he speaks ill of a
soldier, of the memory of a soldier,” Hollande told journalists in
Paris.
The French leader was referring to a feud between Trump and the
Muslim parents of a slain US soldier, which has shaken the presidential
campaign just three months before the November vote.
Hollande criticised Trump’s “hurtful and humiliating comments”.
“Democracy is also at stake, as we see more and more people tempted
by authoritarianism,” he said, “especially” in the United States.
“Should the American people choose Trump, there will be consequences, because a US election is a global election,” he added.
This is the photo of the two suspected members of an armed robbery gang
that were on Monday, August 1st, shot dead on Okunola Road, Idimu area
of Lagos State after they allegedly attacked a police inspector and
engaged the police in a shoot-out we reported yesterday!
Chief of Air Staff, Air Mshl Sadique Abubakar recently met
with Brig. Gen Mark D Camerer, Brig. Gen, the
Director of Plans, Programs and Analyses for HQ U.S. Air Forces in
Europe and U.S. Air Forces Africa, for deliberation on the purchase of
Super Tucano aircraft by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF).
Reuters reported in May that the U.S. was seeking to
approve a sale of as many as 12 A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft
to Nigeria, to aid the battle against the extremist group Boko Haram.
The Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano also named ALX or A-29 is a
turboprop aircraft designed for light attack, counter insurgency
(COIN), close air support, aerial reconnaissance missions in low threat
environments, as well as providing pilot training. It is designed to
operate in high temperature and humidity conditions in extremely rugged
terrain, the Super Tucano is highly maneuverable, has a low heat
signature, incorporates fourth generation avionics and weapons system to
deliver precision guided munitions.
Looks like Instagram’s new feature is a ripoff of photo sharing app Snapchat. Instagram announced today that they
will be introducing ‘Instagram Stories’ and everything from the name
(Instagram Stories), to the design of the camera button, annotations
tools, and the ability to share photos to friends for only 24 hours, is
pretty familiar to the way Snapchat operates.
According to Instagram, the new feature lets users share
all the moments of their day, not just the ones you want to keep on your
profile.
“As you share multiple photos and videos, they appear together
in a slideshow format: your story. The photos and videos will disappear
after 24 hours and won’t appear on your profile grid or feed.”
Users will see stories from people they follow in a bar at
the top of your feed – from your best friends to your favorite popular
accounts and unlike regular posts, there are no likes or public
comments. (Which is basically the same way Snapchat operates).
According to TechCrunch, Instagram’s CEO Kevin Systrom, did not
disagree with their new feature being a Snapchat ripoff when they were
confronted about the comparison. He said,
“They (Snapchat) deserve all the credit..This isn’t about who invented
something. This is about a format, and how you take it to a network and
put your own spin on it.”
Interestingly, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel had rejected Mark
Zuckerberg’s $3 billion acquisition offer for the app in 2013. Snapchat
went on to become really popular and this move by Facebook/Instagram is
clearly a strategy to compete with them.
RIVERS State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has declared that the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party will hold as scheduled in Port Harcourt.
The Ahmed Makarfi-led PDP had fixed its national convention for August 17, 2016 in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
He explained that the national convention would hold as scheduled because the court had yet to hear the suit filed by “sacked” Senator Ali Modu Sheriff challenging the holding of the event.
Addressing the South-South Executive Committee of the PDP at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Monday, Wike said, “The court could not have sacked Senator Makarfi because it cannot sit on appeal on the judgment of a court of coordinate jurisdiction.”
He added that there was an application to allow Makarfi to be joined as a party in the suit, recalling that the suit was adjoined till August 15, 2016
The governor pointed out that the Edo State chapter of the PDP would get the backing of the party to win the forthcoming governorship election.
“The PDP in the South-South cannot be complete until we take over Edo State. Therefore, I urge INEC to conduct free and fair election in Edo State and every other state where we have elections.
“I thank the party in Edo State for doing quite well in their campaigns. As an opposition party, they have promoted the party’s chances through committed campaigns,” he said.
On the forthcoming National Convention, he stated that the leaders of the PDP in the Southern geopolitical zones would meet on Thursday to determine the zoning of positions.
The governor further said that the PDP would emerge stronger from its current challenges, adding that Nigerians were waiting for the party to provide leadership.
In his remarks, the National Vice Chairman of the PDP (South-South), Mr. Emma Ogidi, commended Wike for using the people’s mandate to transform Rivers State.
He described Wike as a complete party man, who had helped in rebuilding the party through his engagements with party stakeholders across the country.
The South-South Executive Committee of the PDP also conferred an award of excellence on the governor.
It will be recalled that the factional National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, said his group was not planning any convention for now.
Also, a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Chidi Okolo, said the convention would hold.
Some vandals allegedly responsible for attacks on communities in Lagos and Ogun states are escaping in large numbers to riverine communities in the Ilaje and Ese-Odo local government areas of Ondo State.
Investigations on Monday showed that the insurgents, who escaped the intensified aerial bombardment by the Nigerian Air Force of their camps at Arepo, Ogun, and Ikorodu, Lagos, had been sighted in Ore, Okitipupa and the riverine communities of Ondo State.
A top security source told one of our correspondents that security reports showed that some of the militants had sneaked into the Ondo reverine communities.
He said, ‘‘Arepo can no longer contain them. Some of them have run to Ondo to hide in the riverine areas.’’
It was further gathered that some of them were still trapped in Arepo and other communities in Lagos and were making frantic moves to flee.
A source in Ese-Odo said since the military started the bombardment of the militants’ camps on Friday, many of them had fled and regrouped in Ondo State.
A NAF official in a plane
The source said, “We have sighted them in some communities here. It seems Arepo is too hot for them.”
A resident of Ajagba in the Irele Local Government Area of the state, who identified himself simply as Francis, said there were strange faces in the local government, adding that it was difficult to identify whether they were fleeing militants or not.’’
He said, “Many people from Niger Delta states are living with us. Some of them do have visitors staying with them, so there is no way we can know if the new faces are the fleeing militants or not. “
Another resident of the state, Musa, who lives in Ore, Odigbo Local Government Area, said the high population made it possible for the militants to run to the commercial town and hide there.
“Ore is a commercial town with people from various tribes here. It is possible for strange people to come and hide here,’’ he said.
But the Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Group Capt. Ayodele Famuyiwa, told one of our correspondents on the telephone on Monday that the vandals were seen together on Sunday, probably to perfect a plan to run.
He said the cameras on NAF’s platforms that were used for night operations picked some of the insurgents having meetings.
He said the ongoing aerial operation against the vandals would continue until they were flushed out of the Ogun and Lagos areas completely.
The fighter aircrafts of NAF had destroyed the major camps of the vandals at Arepo, known as Fatola and Abuja, and two others during four days of sustained aerial offensive in the area.
He said, “They are almost out of Arepo, an area where they had consolidated their position. Maybe, it is so strategic to them because even in the night, they tried to come back; when we did night flying, the cameras still picked them.
“We see them coming together as if they wanted to hold meetings, maybe to run away during the day.
“Some of them tried to run into the mangrove. You know that place is very thick and that is why our operation is going to continue until we flush them out completely.”
Fighter jets used for the operation
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, said it had arrested additional 21 fleeing militants in the creeks of Arepo, Fatola and other parts of Lagos, bringing the total number of arrests to 40.
The agency stated that the ongoing operation against pipeline vandals would not stop until all the miscreants were arrested.
The NSCDC Public Relations Officer, Emma Okeh, told one of our correspondents on the telephone on Monday that the militants were being detained at centres run by the military and the Department of State Services.
Okeh said, “Apart from the 19 suspects that were arrested since Thursday when the operation against the militants started, we have apprehended 21 others, bringing the total number to 40.”
The spokesman said the suspects would eventually be arraigned in court, adding that it would be done after all the militants in the operational area might have been arrested.
The Ondo State Police Command told one of our correspondents that policemen were on the ground to prevent militants from “doing anything” in the state.
The Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Mr. Femi Joseph, said although there was no report about fleeing militants regrouping in Ondo, the police were not leaving anything to chance.
The PPRO said, “I don’t think the information that the fleeing militants are in this state is true, and if they are here, there is no way they can regroup to carry out any activity because our men are on the ground everywhere.
“We are not taking the security of the state for granted, but I don’t think any militant is here.
“We call on our people not to hesitate to inform the police whenever they notice any strange face or witness activities of some strange people in their communities so that we can move in to deal with such people.”
The Ondo State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Kayode Akinmade, said the state government was not aware of any militant’s visit to the state.
He said the security agencies in the state were, however, up to the task to curb any criminal activity in any part of the state, adding that the state government was committed to the protection of lives and property of the residents.
