Buhari bars AIT from covering his events

Buhari bars AIT from covering his events in response to its pro-Goodluck and PDP bias

 

PRESIDENT-elect General Muhammadu Buhari has barred the African Independent Television (AIT) from covering his activities in response to the harsh coverage the TV station of his election campaign.

AIT, owned by multi-millionaire Chief Raymond Dokpesi, prides itself on being Africa's largest independent television station and is widely viewed across the continent. However, Chief Dokpesi is a close ally of President Goodluck Jonathan and a supporter of his People's Democratic Party (PDP) and his TV station reflected this in its coverage of the elections.

Yesterday General Buhari barred the station from all of his activities citing issues of ethics and standards that need to be sorted out with the broadcast medium. Prior to the March 28 presidential election, AIT aired a series of documentaries considered to have disparaged General Buhari, his late wife and late daughter, as well as the All Progressives Congress (APC) leader Bola Tinubu.

Acting on orders, security operatives at Defence House in Abuja, where General Buhari is now resident, did not let the AIT‎ crew into the building. When General Buhari received the Cuban and Swiss ambassadors, along with guests from Nasarawa State, AIT was denied entry to cover the events.

Chief Dokpesi was widely believed to have received over N8bn (£23m) to air the controversial documentaries against APC leaders including the vice president elect Professor Yemi Osinbajo. Mallam Garba Shehu, the spokesman of the Buhari Campaign Organisation, confirmed that AIT will not be allowed to cover the president-elects activities for now.

Mallam Shehu said: “AIT has been asked to step aside based on security and family concerns. In addition, Buhari has decided that they will have to resolve some issues relating to issues of standard and ethics.

“We will be talking with them to try and resolve the matter but for now the station has been asked to stay aside because there are some family and security concerns. You can quote me that I said that we have asked them to step aside and that we are resolving the issues of ethics and standards with them.”

It is unclear if AIT will challenge the decision in court or enter into negotiations with the APC to resolve the issue. Undoubtedly, the move will leads to criticism as General Buhari's opponents will see it as him acting in a militaristic manner for which he has been criticised in the past.

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UPDATE: Jonathan set for UN job

President Goodluck Jonathan is set to be appointed as a global crises envoy by the United Nations (UN), sources said on Monday.

Jonathan will hand over power to the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, on May 29, 2015.

He would be the first African former president to hold such responsibility and would oversee UN affairs on the African continent.

The role is similar to that of former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who was appointed the Middle East envoy for the United Nations after leaving office.

Jonathan, 57, holds a B.Sc. in zoology, an M.Sc. in hydrobiology and fisheries and a Ph.D in zoology, all from the University of Port Harcourt.

Prior to his role as President, Jonathan served as governor of Bayelsa State from 2005 to 2007 and as Vice President of Nigeria from 2007 to 2010.

Meanwhile, a former Kogi State Governor, Abubakar Audu, has said that Jonathan deserves the Nobel Peace prize for his historic phone call to the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, in which he conceded defeat in the recent presidential elections.

In another development, Jonathan on Monday, commissioned the new Christian Association of Nigerian’s (CAN) Jubilee Resort and Leadership Centre in Abuja.

The centre, which is within the premises of the National Christian Centre, Abuja, provides rooms, accommodation and halls for conferences to the public at a fee.

Thanking God that he oversaw the project from inception to completion, Jonathan said that with unity of purpose, the body of Christ can achieve greater things.

“I urge Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of unity and with it nothing can stop us from reaching greater heights,” he said, adding that one of the greatest assets from a family to the nation is good leadership.

“I believe this centre will be used to re-orientate and re-focus us,” he said.

He warned that it would not be good if the edifice cannot generate income to at least cater for its maintenance.

Commending the prudence in the cost of the building, he said such building and its facilities would have cost three times the amount spent on it if it were handled by the government.

The President, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, said that the cost of the building was low because some engineers and other people gave their services free.

He said that although that there were many five-star and four-star hotels in Abuja, none provides a quiet and godly place like the resort, adding that the presence of God is worth more than any other thing.

Marginalising The People Of S’East, S’South Can Lead To Crisis – Uduaghan Warns APC

Marginalising The People Of S’East, S’South Can Lead To Crisis – Uduaghan Warns APC

The Governor of Delta State, Emmanuel Uduaghan, has warned the All Progressives Congress, APC, against marginalising the people of the South-South and the South-East because they did not vote for their party during the 2015 polls. Uduaghan who said this during a programme on Channels Television on Sunday, said marginalising the people of the two zones could lead to crisis.
The governor said the reports of the zoning of key offices by the leadership of the APC showed that the party might sideline the people of the South-East and the South-South. He, therefore, urged the party to run a government that would foster national integration. Uduaghan said, “Governor Rochas Okorocha said the APC is in the mainstream of the South-East but that is not true.
If you monitor their meetings and the zoning (of key offices), they (APC) seem to be leaving out the South-East and the South-South because the zones did not vote for them. “That is very dangerous because every segment of Nigeria must be carried along. This is because the thing that disenfranchises people and makes them to go back to trenches is very little.
One of the issues in the last four years was that the North was not carried along but was neglected by this present government and there was an inflammation of the Boko Haram because of that. “Boko Haram had been there before four years ago but because the North was not being carried along, people were unemployed; the group of people to be recruited was very much available. This can happen in any part of the country and that is why I am saying that they (APC) must first put Nigeria together and ensure that every segment of Nigeria has a sense of belonging. Don’t say these people are nobodies and you take them for granted, it would be very dangerous.”

Nigerian army 'rescues nearly 300' in Sambisa Forest

 
• From the secti

The army has made gains against the militants in recent months

Boko Haram

• 
  

The Nigerian military says it has rescued 200 girls and 93 women from an area where the Islamist militant group Boko Haram is active.

However, it said it could not confirm whether the girls abducted from a school in Chibok in April 2014 were among them.

The military said the girls and women were freed during operations against Boko Haram in the Sambisa Forest.

A military spokesman said they were now being interviewed.

Weapons were also seized at the four camps which were taken in the latest operation, the military said.

In recent months Nigerian security forces have taken back most of the territory previously under the control of Boko Haram.

Last October the government said it had secured an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of the girls taken from Chibok, but Boko Haram subsequently denied this.

The abduction of the girls in Chibok sparked global outrage with many joining a campaign online to free them using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.

Several nations including the US and China vowed to help find them and there have been reported sightings of the girls, but none has been found to date.

Buhari Clamps Down On AIT

Buhari Clamps Down On AIT 

The security team according to Punch cited security reports and ethical issues as reasons for their action.

The directive which took effect on Monday, April 27, was enforced when members of AIT crew, who were at the Defence House to cover of a meeting between Buhari and a visiting Cuban delegation, were asked to leave.

Confirming this to Punch, the crew said: Yes, we were told but we cannot just leave; we have a job to do. In any case, we have not been officially informed about what we have done wrong.

On why AIT was restricted from covering functions of the president-elect, Mallam Garba Sheh, the director of press of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organisation, noted that security concerns informed the decision.

He said: “AIT has been asked to stay aside based on security and family concerns. In addition, General Buhari has decided that they will have to resolve some issues relating to issues of standard and ethics.

“We will be talking with them to try and resolve the matter but for now, the station has been asked to stay aside because, like I said, there are some family and security concerns.

“They have been asked to step down their coverage until we resolve the matter with them on ethics and standards.”

In weeks building up the presidential election, AIT was criticized for airing a documentary, “The Real Buhari” which x-rayed the retired general’s past military regime as one that become the first to sentence a woman to death by firing squad.

The documentary was described by the All Progressives Congress (APC) as a“fabricated and hate broadcast” against its presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari.

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) also indicted the African Independent Television (AIT) and the National Television Authority (NTA) for the airing several  documentaries  which maligned the image of  Muhammadu Buhari.

The death toll in Nepal from the devastating earthquake that struck two days ago has risen to 3,218, Nepalese Ministry of Home Affairs spokesman says.

These are fearful times on the highest mountain in the world.

The devastating earthquake that hit Nepal on Saturday set off avalanches that left large numbers of climbers dead, missing, injured or trapped on Mount Everest.

And aftershocks, including a strong one Sunday, are continuing to send snow and rocks thundering down the mountainside, complicating rescue efforts.

"We were sitting here in base camp, feeling the situation was getting better," said climber Carsten Pederson.

"And then suddenly, we felt the aftershock," he told CNN on Sunday. "And immediately after the shock, we hear avalanches from all the mountains around us."

Earthquake triggers Everest avalanche 

But those avalanches didn't appear to be on the same scale as those that came roaring down on the camp Saturday.

The base camp on the Nepal side of Everest is in a vulnerable spot, sitting in a valley surrounded by high Himalayan peaks. When the huge, lengthy quake struck Saturday, the scores of climbers who had gathered there to prepare for or recover from ascents of the peak had nowhere to run.

"An earthquake that long set off avalanches all the way around us. And they came down -- they were large, they were massive avalanches," said Jon Reiter, an American mountaineer at the base camp.

'Blown off the mountain'

People tried to flee as the onrushing wall of snow, ice and rocks took out large sections of the camp.

"They were trying to outrun the avalanche and you cannot," said Pederson. "So many people were hit from behind, blown off the mountain, blown into rocks, hit by debris, tents were flying off."

He said he took shelter behind a large pile of stones.

"I could hardly breathe, but I could stay until the avalanche was over," he told CNN.

A huge cloud of snow dust billowed hundreds of feet into the sky.

"We all ducked for cover until the cloud passed and then started dealing with the aftermath," Reiter said.

That included at least 17 people killed, dozens injured and many others missing, he said. They are one part of the enormous human toll in Nepal and beyond from the catastrophic quake.

Airlifts of injured begin

The many unhurt people at the camp scrambled to help the injured, digging them out of the snow and turning dining tents into makeshift field hospitals. Snow that continued to fall made it hard for them to see, hampering their efforts.

Climbers worked in shifts through the night, nursing the injured as they waited for the weather conditions to improve to allow helicopters in.

"A lot of them are in pretty tough shape," Reiter said of the injured.

The airlifts of those with the most severe injuries began Sunday morning after the weather cleared.

"The sun is breaking through the clouds, and the choppers are coming in," Reiter said. "We're pretty grateful. We're going to get these guys down the hill."

Pederson said that most of the injured people at the base camp had been airlifted out by Sunday afternoon.

Climbers stuck farther up mountain

But concerns were growing for the groups of climbers stuck farther up the 29,035-foot (8,848-meter) mountain in Camps 1 and 2.

Earthquake triggers avalanches around Mount Everest 01:44

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The avalanche was reported to have trapped them above the icefall area, an already treacherous part of the mountain that separates the base camp from Camp 1.

"They'll have to put a new route in from base camp up through that icefall," said Jim Whittaker, the first American to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

The climbers "will have to cool it for a couple days, wait until the route is re-established," he told CNN.

But the frequent aftershocks were making that task more difficult.

Alex Gavan, a mountaineer at the base camp, said Sunday on Twitter that ropes and other gear were being helicoptered to the people trapped above the icefall.

A few of the climbers were taken down by helicopter, but more than 100 were believed to still be up there, he wrote.

"Practically, it's impossible to get them off with helicopters," Pederson said. "There are so many people up there."

Google executive killed

Amid the struggle to save the living, details started to emerge about some of the dead.

Among them was Dan Fredinburg, an American executive at Google who had been posting updates about his adventures in Nepal on Instagram and Twitter.

His sister, Megan, updated the Instagram account with a message saying he suffered a major head injury.

"We appreciate all of the love that has been sent our way thus far and know his soul and his spirit will live on in so many of us," she wrote. "All our love and thanks to those who shared this life with our favorite hilarious strong willed man. He was and is everything to us."

Eve Girawong, a medic from New Jersey who worked on the mountain, was also killed, according to her family and employer.

"On behalf of my family, it is with deep sadness that I write that our beloved daughter, younger sister and best friend has been taken from us today," a family member wrote on Facebook. "Nong Eve Girawong was doing the thing she loved doing most -- helping others. Words cannot describe the heartbreak and pain that we are currently suffering."

'A pretty rough scene'

People at the base camp described a grim, chaotic situation after the avalanches Saturday.

"It's a pretty rough scene up here," Reiter said.

He told CNN that he'd put one dead man inside a sleeping bag and zipped it up.

Many of those who suffered the worst injuries were asked to write down their names to identify them in case they died, Reiter said.

The exact number of dead remained unclear. Reiter reported 17; Nima Namgyal, a doctor with an expedition at the base camp told CNN that he had seen 14 bodies so far.

But an unknown number of people are still missing, buried beneath the snow and ice.

'Always a risk of death'

The earthquake struck just over a year after an avalanche on Everest killed 16 Sherpas, the deadliest single disaster on the mountain up to that point.

The Sherpas, an ethnic group, are famed for their climbing skills and often work as mountain guides.

"This is our job," said Pasang Sherpa, who lost people close to him in the 2014 avalanche. "So there is always a risk of death."

Reiter was also there last year when that avalanche came crashing down the icefall. He described to CNN at the time the harrowing experience of seeing bodies being removed.

The American climber has scaled all of the "Seven Summits," the highest mountain on each of the seven continents, except Everest. This is his third straight year trying to scale the tallest peak of them all. He turned back in 2013 "because it didn't feel right," according to his wife, Susan.

Will Reiter try again after witnessing another disaster on the mountain?

"You would think that he wouldn't because of this and because of last year," Susan Reiter said from her Northern California home. "But knowing my husband I think he will. I hope not, but I don't want to hold him back."

Buhari to Jonathan, Deziani: I will probe NNPC missing $20 billion

Hard times may be awaiting the outgoing government of President Goodluck Jonathan over the alleged missing $20 billion from the coffers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Cooperation, NNPC.

The president-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari Sunday said he will revisit the issue.

Buhari who spoke while addressing a delegation of Adamawa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC who paid him a congratulatory visit at his campaign headquarters in Abuja on his victory at the polls showed open resentment that the present government turned a deaf over the missing money when it was raised by the former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sanisu Lamido Sanusi, who is now the Emir of Kano.

He regretted that the government hurriedly sacked the former CBN instead of investigating the missing funds.

Buhari who spoke in Hausa langauage made it clear that his administration would not condone stealing of public funds meant to provide jobs for the teeming jobless Nigerian youth.

“I heard that some people have started returning money; I will not believe it until I go and see for myself.

“Imagine a situation where the former CBN governor who by God ‘s grace would later become the  Emir of Kano raised an  issue of missing billions of money, not in Naira but in Dollars, $20 billion.

“What happened, instead of investigating to know whether it was true that the money was missing or not, they simply found a reason to remove him. So these are the issues we are talking about…”

State Security Uncovers Plot to Kill President Jonathan, David Mark

The Department of State Security Service, (DSS), on Tuesday morning, arrested an ex-militant leader, Sobomabo Jackrich aka Egberipapa, in an Abuja Hotel, for a planned assassination plot of President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President David Mark and some unnamed top government functionaries.

Our correspondent gathered that officers of the DSS, acting on intelligence report arrested Egberipapa, who according to a source was masquerading under a false name at the time of the arrest, after months of nationwide manhunt.

Sources said that the suspect, who is a key ally of jailed factional leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Nigeria Delta (MEND), secretly entered Abuja last weekend evading the watchful eyes of security operatives.

The plot hatched by the ex-militant leader was to kill President Jonathan, Senate President in Abuja at a public function before the end of the Jonathan’s government on May 29.

“We have the ex-militant leader in our custody,” a top DSS operative said?.

Okah, who is presently serving jail term in a South African prison, was also accused of plotting the assassination of President Jonathan?.

Our correspondent’s investigations revealed that the DSS operatives uncovered the assassination plot via intelligence gathering and have been trailing the suspect in the last few months before he was eventually picked on Tuesday in Abuja.

Investigations revealed that the DSS has also arrested several other individuals in different parts of the country in connection to the assassination plot.

It was gathered that attempts by several influential Niger Delta leaders to intervene in the case have been rebuffed by the security agency.

It could however not be confirmed when the suspects would be taken to court for the crime.

“South Africans are not xenophobic,” – President Jacob Zuma

President Jacob Zuma has pledged to tackle anti-migrant sentiment in South Africa and to address deep-rooted problems behind the attacks. “South Africans are not xenophobic,” he said Wednesday. “If we don’t deal with the underlying issues, it will come back.”

Zuma gave few details of government plans, but said the violence was driven by “criminal elements” as well as friction between foreigners and locals.

However, several thousand demonstrators marched through central Johannesburg on Thursday to protest against a spate of deadly attacks on immigrants, after further raids by the authorities on suspected gang hideouts.

Watched by police, crowds sang songs denouncing xenophobia and carried banners that read “We are all Africans” as migrant workers crowded balconies, shouting their support.

“This march sends an important message to the world, to Africans,” David Makhura, premier of Gauteng province of which Johannesburg is the capital, told the demonstrators. “We are going to defeat xenophobia like we defeated apartheid.

“We are here to make sure that South Africa is a country of peace for all.” Soldiers were deployed in Johannesburg this week to aid police in operations against hostels housing South African men who are accused of targeting migrants from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and other African countries.

At least seven people have been killed in three weeks of unrest that have revived memories of xenophobic bloodshed in 2008, when 62 people were killed. “I am here to make a stand, to say ‘Not in my name’,” Zain Mayet, 20, one of the marchers, told AFP.

“Keeping quiet makes me as guilty as those who are committing violence. “We are here to demonstrate that not everyone in South Africa is a criminal who attacks foreign nationals.” UN chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the violence and called for “all efforts” to be made to avoid future attacks.

“He welcomes the public expressions of the many South Africans who have been calling for peaceful coexistence and harmony with foreign nationals,” Ban’s spokesman said in a statement.

- Forced to flee -

Two people were arrested late Wednesday when police, backed by soldiers, stormed a workers’ hostel in the city’s crowded Alexandra township. In total, over 300 people have been detained. The unrest erupted in the port city of Durban about three weeks ago and later spread to Johannesburg, the economic capital.

Many immigrants have been forced to flee their homes and abandon their small shops as marauding mobs hunted down foreigners at night. “Over 5,000 people from Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi still seek refuge in displacement camps,” Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF – Doctors Without Borders) said in a statement.

“Injured Malawian and Zimbabwean men told medics that they are too afraid to openly seek medical treatment for their wounds and fractures for fear of further attack.” More than 20 years since the end of apartheid, many South Africans believe the lack of opportunities for young blacks and a severe jobs shortage has led to deep frustration.

One Mozambican man was stabbed to death in Alexandra township last Saturday in scenes that provoked widespread outrage after the killing was captured in graphic newspaper photographs. Alexandra, where Nelson Mandela lived as a young man, is one of the most troubled parts of Johannesburg and is located next to the upmarket business district of Sandton.

Regional relations have been strained by the attacks, with Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique organising for some worried citizens to return home. Neighbouring Mozambique said more than 2,000 citizens had fled the violence. Five buses also arrived back in Zimbabwe on Wednesday.

I’ll Be Jonathan’s “Last Man” Standing, Fayose Vows

Embattled Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, has vowed to lead a robust and engaging opposition against the All Progressives Congress in Nigeria, especially in the South-West.

In a statement he personally issued on Wednesday in Ado Ekiti, Mr. Fayose alleged that he had become a “prime demolition target” of the APC national leadership because of his “overt and unalloyed support for President Goodluck Jonathan during the campaigns”.

He, however, promised to remain loyal to the outgoing president and be his last man standing even if all Nigerians abandoned him.

He stated, “I wish to declare unequivocally that I remain loyal to President Jonathan even after May 29 as my support for his re-election and administration was not about bread-and-butter.

“I was convinced he was moving Nigeria in the right direction, despite all the noise. I have no regrets supporting him. If same situation presents itself again, I would do it all over.

“Let me state it clearly that if President Jonathan is deserted by all Nigerians today, I, Ayodele Fayose, will remain with him. I have chosen to be his last-man standing”.

The governor added, “It is ironic that those who said worse things about the President-elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) when they were in opposing parties, are the ones milling around him today, using him as an electoral talisman and demonising us for saying things of lesser magnitude during a campaign that was mainly characterised by hate-messages from both divides.

“I also want to put it on record that if all PDP members decamp to APC today, I will remain the last-man standing for the party, even as I have no cause to denigrate the office of the president.

“I also promise APC a robust and engaging opposition both in the South-West and nationally, with me playing a prominent role”.

Buhari: Court stops further hearing on eligibility suits

Justice Adeniyi Ademola, the judge presiding over the eligibility suits against the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, at the Federal High Court, Abuja, Wednesday, stopped further hearing on two separate suits after plaintiffs filed notices of discontinuance before the court.

Three persons had asked the court to stop Buhari from contesting the March 28 presidential election.

The motions for discontinuance were filed by the plaintiffs’ lawyers on Wednesday.

Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), counsel to one of the plaintiffs, Chukwunweike Okafor, told the judge that his client decided to withdraw his suit to enable the incoming government to focus on the task of governing the country effectively.

Dr. Chike Amobi, representing Max Ozoaka, also confirmed that his client has withdrawn his suit.

The pending eligibility case is filed by one Ayakeme Whiske.

Boko Haram terrorists out of arms, ammunitions — DHQ

AS troops continued their mop operations to rid the Sambisa Forest of the remaining Boko Haram terrorists in the forest, the insurgents  are said to have run out of arms and ammunitions, an escapee and military sources have revealed.

This is even as the Director Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade confirmed to newsmen in Abuja that ground troops with support from air strikes have stormed the forest, smoking the terrorists out of their hideouts.

Although, Olukolade did not disclose whether the troops have succeeded in killing or destroying terrorists’ camps in the ongoing raid which began yesterday, an escapee from Tabe village in Damboa Local Government Area said “the Boko Haram terrorists have run out of arms and ammunitions as the military have intensified attacks on Sambiza Forest”.

“You can find more than 500 of the insurgents with only few of them having rifles and even when one or two of them have rifles, they have no ammunitions. It is just like somebody holding a stick…, as they have run out of ammunitions, because the usual supplies they get are not forthcoming.

“I am optimistic that the military will succeed by killing many of these sect members who have been terrorising residents in the past three years from the forest,” he stated.

According to him, “the Boko Haram terrorists have only bow and arrows, matchetes, daggers and other local weapons, as they have run out of arms and ammunitions and were roaming about in the bushes of the villages along the fringes of the Sambiza forest.”

Another resident of Yamtake village told Vanguard that, “ As a result of the recent aerial bombardment on the Sambiza Forest, many of the sect members including their commanders have fled into the nearby bushes in Yamtake.