I'm Fully In Charge of PDP, Claims Bamanga Tukur

Posted: September 4, 2013 - 16:22

Bamanga Tukur

By SaharaReporters, New York

Embattled National Chairman of a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Bamanga Tukur, has declared that he is still in charge of the party.
Tukur proclaimed his tigritude at a press briefing in Abuja, where he threatened to declare vacant the seats of members of National Assembly hobnobbing with the rebel group, who on Saturday formed the ‘New PDP’ after walking away from the Special Convention of the party, dismissing it as rotten. They accused the party of having become more autocratic and increasingly undemocratic.
As the events took place, Tukur and President Goodluck Jonathan appeared stunned and speechless. Regaining his speech today, Tukur in turn described members of the New PDP are impostors, and as “undemocratic.”
“Our reason for being here is to inform you without any iota of doubt that the Peoples Democratic Party has no faction and there is neither room nor reason whatsoever for such a claim under any guise,” the heavily-criticized chairman declared.
He threatened that anyone who is not duly elected into any leadership position in the party and has not been duly assigned any role but goes ahead to arrogate such a role to himself will be made to face the law.
“Similarly, all persons elected on the platform of our great party at all levels who identify with these enemies of the oneness and greatness of our party shall have their seats declared vacant as required by law. We shall leave no stone unturned to ensure that such persons and indeed any other individual who attempts to subvert the leadership of the PDP shall reap in full, the consequences of such actions.”
Text of the press statement:
I'm fully in charge of PDP -Tukur
Embattled National Chairman of a faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, Dr. Bamanga Tukur, has declared that he is still in charge of the party.
Tukur spoke at a press briefing innAbuja, where he also threatened to declare the seats of members of National Assembly hobnobbing with the rebel group, who went to form the New Peoples Democratic Party in Abuja in Saturday, vacant.
He said those who formed the New PDP are undemocratic and impostors.
Text Of Press Conference Delivered By The National Chairman Of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, CON At The PDP National Secretariat On Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Gentlemen of the press, you are aware of the current developments in our great party. Our reason for being here is to inform you without any iota of doubt that the Peoples Democratic Party has no faction and there is neither room nor reason whatsoever for such a claim under any guise.
The PDP has only one duly elected National Executive Committee (NEC) under my Chairmanship. I wish therefore to state with all emphasis that any group of persons parading themselves as leaders of NEC or any other organ of our party are impostors and I urge all Nigerians, especially the security agencies and other institutions of democracy to regard them as such.
Let me state categorically that the PDP as the sole custodian of the sacred mandate of over 160 million Nigerians and who in the last fourteen years has lifted high the banner of democracy will not fold its arms while some undemocratic and unpatriotic elements destroy our common destiny by causing divisions and confusion among the people.
Consequently, we shall ensure that any person who is not duly elected into any leadership position in our great party and has not been duly assigned any role but goes ahead to arrogate such to himself will be made to face the full wrath of the law.
Similarly, all persons elected on the platform of our great party at all levels who identify with these enemies of the oneness and greatness of our party shall have their seats declared vacant as required by law.
We shall leave no stone unturned to ensure that such persons and indeed any other individual who attempts to subvert the leadership of the PDP shall reap in full, the consequences of such actions.
I wish to emphasize that the PDP has adequate mechanism for internal conflict resolution. All party members are therefore advised to ventilate their grievances through this medium.
There is only one lawfully recognized PDP and I am firmly in charge.
Thank you and may God bless you
Alhaji (Dr) Bamanga Tukur, CON
National Chairman

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Drama In Presidential Villa As Kwankwaso Rejects Jonathan's Request

Posted: September 3, 2013 - 00:03

Rabiu Kwankwaso

By SaharaReporters, New York

There was a mild political drama at Nigeria’s Presidential Villa on Sunday night when Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano State rejected the request of President Goodluck Jonathan to stand beside him as Tony Anenih, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the People’s Democratic Party, read a communiqué at the end of their “peace” meeting.

Mr. Kwankwaso was the spokesman of a group of PDP governors who last Saturday walked out of the venue of the party’s mini-convention.

He was at Aso Rock Villa to participate in a meeting called by Mr. Jonathan to iron out differences between the president’s faction of the party and a splinter group of governors and other party members who staged the dramatic walkout.

At the end of the peace meeting, which was attended by 16 governors, Mr. Anenih was mandated to speak with reporters as Mr. Jonathan and his deputy, Namadi Sambo, were reduced to spectators. A presidential source told SaharaReporters that President Jonathan had beckoned on Kwankwaso to stand beside him, but the Kano State governor refused. “When Mr. President beckoned to Alhaji Kwankwaso to stand by his side as Chief Anenih read out the communiqué, the governor raised his finger and shook it several times. He then headed to the side of Chief Anenih,” said the source. He added that Mr. Jonathan, though clearly miffed, flashed a pained smile.

SaharaReporters learnt that Mr. Jonathan first met behind closed doors with former President Olusegun Obasanjo for close to two hours in the private residence of the president, and then met with 16 PDP governors, including four of the group that walked away from the mini-convention. The splinter group, led by former Vice President Abubakar Atiku, subsequently met at the Musa Yar’Adua Convention Center in Abuja and announced the formation of the “New PDP.” The rebellious governors include Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State, Murtala Nyako of Adamawa, and Abdulfatai Ahmed of Kwara State.

Mr. Anenih read the communiqué flanked by President Jonathan on the right and Governor Kwankwaso on the left, with other governors behind them. The chairman of the fractious party’s board of trustees stated that “the leadership of the party and the PDP governors met today to discuss the incident that occurred during the PDP special convention on the 31st of August 2013, whereby some state delegations walked out of the convention ground to announce a faction of the party.” He added: “The meeting was smooth and encouraging and the discussions will continue on Tuesday with all the

Police arrest 11 with 2 fresh Human Heads in Onitsha

Onitsha, on Thursday, experienced another horror, as Anambra State police command arrested 11 persons and discovered two fresh human heads, two military AK47 rifles and two magazines in a hotel. Our
correspondent gathered that policemen from the Onitsha Area Command, acting on a tip-off, swopped on the hotel located at the bank of the River Niger in the popular Ose-Okwodu market in the early hours of Thursday. After several intelligence gathering concerning the criminal activities in the said hotel, where they arrested 11 suspects, which included male and female accomplice and the owner of the hotel. According a police source, who pleaded anonymity, he reviewed that during the operation that lasted for hours, the police team, led by a senior police officer attached to the IGP Monitoring Unit, cordoned off the hotel after several intelligence reports that human meat were being served to guests in the said hotel. He revealed that when the police got access to the hotel, they made a startling discovery of two decomposing human heads wrapped in a cellophene bag, two military AK47 rifles, two army caps, 40 rounds of live ammunition and so many cell phones. Though the Onitsha Area Commander, Mr Benjamin Wordu, declined further comments on the matter on the grounds that the police was still investigating the case to make further discovery, it was gathered that during the operation, an Infiniti SUV, belonging to the owner of the hotel, with registration number DA203FST was also recovered. Also speaking on the incident, a market woman selling vegetable at the Ose-Okwodu market, opposite the hotel, where the suspects were arrested, said she had raised the alarm over the criminal activities in the hotel before the incident. "Each time I came to market, because the hotel is very close to the market, I always noticed some funny movements in and out of the hotel, dirty people with dirty characters always came into the hotel. So, I was not surprised when the police made this discovery in the early hours of Thursday," she said. One of the suspects, who claimed to be a cleaner in the hotel, said she called her daughter to help her in the job on Thursday, as she was not feeling well, only to be rounded-up by security men, while disclosing that she had been telling the hotel management to give her the keys to the hotel room where the bad odour was oozing out, to no avail. "I don't know anything concerning this incident, I am just an ordinary cleaner in the hotel, even my daughter just returned from school for holidays and I begged her to assist me clean the hotel on Thursday before we were arrested. Even before the arrest, I noticed that one of the rooms was permanently locked even without any guest and I have been telling the manager to give me the keys to the room so I can clean it, but he refused and there was a very bad odour oozing out from the room before our arrest," she said. A pastor, who was among the early callers to the Onitsha Area Command, who did not want his name in print, said: "I went to the hotel early this year, after eating, I was told that a lump of meat was being sold at N700, I was surprised. So, I did not know it was human meat I ate at such an expensive price." However, members of the civil society, led by Mr Justus Ijeoma, called on the police not to compromise investigations, in order to unravel those behind the ugly incident, while commending the men of the Nigeria Police for bringing their intelligence to bear. Meanwhile, the Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Emeka Chukwuemeka, confirmed the incident and said the police had intensified manhunt to arrest all members of the cartel.

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SHOCKING: Husband Stabs Wife to Death For Bearing Female Children

A 48-year-old man, has allegedly killed his wife for not being able to give birth to a male child.

The deceased, 46, simply identified as Mama Feyi, was heavily pregnant when she was allegedly stabbed to death by the husband during an early morning dispute.

It was gathered that the alleged murderer who hails from Abusoro area in Akure, Ondo State, has since been arrested and is presently being detained at the Ala divisional police station.

Eye witness accounts say the suspect has been having a running battle with his deceased wife for over two years shortly after the woman gave birth to their fourth daughter.

Sources say trouble began a month ago before the brutal murder when the husband complained aloud that his deceased wife is incapable of bearing him a male child and the incident led to a fierce altercation between the couple.

Shocked neighbours expressed disbelief at the death of mama Feyi when one of their next door neighbour, Mr. Isijola, said he was awakened by loud arguments coming from their room very early in the morning. “I ignored them as it is a norm for them to always argue and have altercations. I decided to ignore them at first but when the noise was getting unbearable, I stepped into their room only to find the lifeless body of the woman on the floor, lying in the pool of her blood.

"I saw the man holding a knife and he threatened to stab me if I don’t leave. It was when I discovered that he may abscond that I alerted the police who immediately came to arrest him.”

Narrating the incident, daughter of the deceased, Feyisara, said, “It all started on Sunday after my mummy had cooked rice. She asked me to go and collect money from my father to prepare stew and on getting to him, he started shouting. But he later gave me N500 which my mum refused to collect.

"They both argued and had a fight. I had to make a distress call to neighbours to settle the dispute”.

Weapons Stock: JTF Arrests 3 Lebanese in Kano

30 May, 2013
Local

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The Joint Security Task Force (JTF) in Kano, has arrested three citizens of Lebanon allegedly owing the hide-out of light weapons recovered at a bunker in the city.

Brig.-Gen. Iliyasu Abba, the Brigade Commander, 3rd Brigade, Nigerian Army, said one of the suspects was arrested on Tuesday at a house on Gaya Road in Bompai area of Kano.

According to him, another suspect was arrested in Abuja while the third suspect was apprehended since May 16, at Aminu Kano International Airport, on his way to Beirut, Lebanon.

“The one arrested at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport had a sum of 60,000 US dollars in his possession.”

He said one Abdullahi Hassan Tahir Padalla, who was the owner of the house in which one of the suspect was arrested was still at large.

Abba said among the weapons discovered during the operation on Tuesday were 17 AK 47 rifles, 44 magazines, four land mines and 12 RPG bombs, 14 RPG charger, 11 66 mm anti-tanks weapons, one SMG magazine, one pistol and magazine.

Also, 11, 433 rounds of 7.26 mm special, 76 hand grenade, rocket propelled guns, 122 calibre artillery and anti mines weapons were recovered.

“What you are seeing here are weapons of mass destruction in terms of our situation here right now in Nigerian.

“If these things has been brought out only God knows the type of destruction they will cause to innocent persons in the state or in the country,’’ he said.

He said the Department of State Security Service (SSS) in Abuja had been investigating the case for long.

In a remark, the state Director of the SSS, Mr. Bassey Ettang, said that the three suspects had a link to the Hezbollah group in Lebanon.

According to him, the suspects have for a long time been using the bunker in the house to stockpile arms and ammunition.

He restated the commitment of the SSS and other security agencies to continue with the ongoing war on criminals nationwide. (NAN)

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Four Arab Men Questioned Over Arms Find In Kano

Posted: May 29, 2013 - 23:26

Arms recovered by Nigerian Troops in Kano

By SaharaReporters, New York

SaharaReporters has learnt that Nigerian military authorities were questioning four foreign nationals suspected to be from a Middle Eastern country over a large consignment of arms and ammunitions intercepted in a warehouse located in the Bompai area of Kano, the Kano State capital.
A security source also told SaharaReporters that the owner of the warehouse, simply identified as a Lebanese national, was also a guest of Nigerian military interrogators over the shock discovery.
As at the time of this report, the building on Gaya Road, Bompai, where the weaponry was found was under heavy military guard.
A spokesman for the anti-terrorist Joint Task Force and member of the 3rd Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Captain Ikedichi Iweha, indicated that the brigade would brief reporters on the issue later today. He declined to make further comments on the incident, which occurred on Tuesday night.
“You will get the details tomorrow (Thursday),” he said. He added, “Because of the Democracy Day celebrations we have decided to talk to you after the break.”
A security source told our correspondent that security was beefed up in the commercial city of Kano as a result of the Democracy Day celebrations. There was a significant increase in vehicular patrols by officers of the JTF and the police. “You can see that our patrols made it possible to achieve the kind of peace that the people of Kano have not experienced in recent months,” a security official said.
Some of Kano’s terror flashpoints attracted the largest presence of soldiers and police. The areas include Kurna Asabe, where two persons were reportedly killed last Friday by unknown gunmen, Hotoro-Mariri, Yankaba and Badawa. The areas are suspected hideouts for gunmen.
In a fresh video message released yesterday by Boko Haram, the militant group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, threatened more violence targeted at members of the press, the police and the military. In the one-hour video, the sect’s leader also threatened the country’s politicians and members  of their families, accusing them of corruption. Mr. Shekau also denied reports that many of his men had been killed in the recent onslaught carried out by soldiers in the North East States where emergency rule had been declared by President Goodluck Jonathan.
“There is no truth in that claim, it is only a propaganda, in all we have only lost seven members while the Soldiers cannot count the number of their men who were killed in the confrontation” .
He warned that those who have made it their stock in trade to expose the Boko Haram members and their activities to security agents should wait and see what would happen to them.
He accused the Media of dishing out falsehood against the sect especially on casualty figure its members.
In the video also displayed military patrol vehicle purportedly seized by the militants and some captured and dead soldiers.