I may not have been president but for Yar’Adua, says Jonathan

Recalling the lifetime of the former President, Late Umoru Musa Yar’Adua, President Goodluck Jonathan has said that he might have remained the Governor of Bayelsa State but for the good role played by Yar’Adua.

He spoke in Katsina State on Thursday night during the State Banquet organized in his honour by the Katsina State Government.

Without Yar’Adua, he went further to say that he might not have become President of Nigeria.

He said: “My visits to Katsina are always a kind of homecoming. As you all know, without the role played by your great son of blessed memory, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in my political career, I would probably still be in Yenagoa as Governor of Bayelsa State.”

“Without him, I probably wouldn’t have been President of Nigeria today. He was a very good boss. He was honest, forthright, and patriotic. He had a great vision for Nigeria and set out to do things in a different and original manner. We all take consolation in the fact that he gave his best during the short period that he served our country.”

“If he were here today, I have no doubts that he would be impressed with the visible transformation that is taking place throughout the length and breadth of this state. Governor Shema and his able team deserve commendation not only for initiating new projects, but also for ensuring the completion of all the projects initiated by our late beloved President Umaru Yar’Adua who by providence was his, and also my own predecessor in office,” He added

Fed Poly stops salaries of murder suspects

The management of Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe, Bayelsa State, has acceded to the request of the state police command to stop the payment of salaries of seven of its employees wanted for their alleged involvement in last year’s killing of a 37-year-old staff of the institution, Mr. Frank Moses.

Moses, a father of two, was shot dead on November 8, 2013, some distance away from his home at the Agudama suburb of Yenagoa, the state capital, after seeing off his visitor.

Boko Haram threatens to kill Babangida, Buhari, Atiku, Ado Bayero, others

The leader of the extremist Boko Haram sect,  Abubakar Shekau, has, in a video released to journalists, threatened more attacks against Nigeria, saying his members would target Nigeria’s sources of revenue, and her refineries. 

The full text of his 28-minute video, delivered in Hausa, reads;

“My brethren…you should hold on to your weapons and continue fighting. Let them understand that our work is not confined to Yobe, Borno and Adamawa (states).

Make them understand that we are not restricted by emergency rule. They should understand we are under the canopy of Allah.

“This is the beginning. Yes, this is the beginning. “We Jama’atu Ahlissunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad are fighting Christians wherever we meet them and those who believe in democracy, those who pursue Western education wherever we meet them.

By Allah, we will kill whoever practices Democracy. “And you the infidels of Rivers State, Niger (Delta), the town of Jonathan, Shekau is talking to you (sounds of gunshots). Shekau is talking to you, that small boy that has become the nightmare of infidels is talking to you.

“Oh you the leader of the Niger Delta, you will soon see your refinery destroyed. You will in the incoming days see your refinery you are boasting about bombed. Our refinery is Allah.

“Niger-Delta you are in trouble. Jonathan you are in trouble…Ban ki-Moon you are in trouble, Bejamin Netanyahu you are in trouble, Queen Elizabeth, you are in trouble, Babangida, Kwankwaso, Shekarau, Kashim, Buhari, you are in trouble. “Yahaya Jingir…the cleric of Jos, the advocate of ‘Boko Halal’, right? We are Boko Haram, you are Boko Halal. You will see, bastard.

“We killed Albani of Zaria. We killed Albani of Zaria. Shekau killed Albani of Zaria.Tomorrow  he will kill Jingir, the  day after tomorrow  he will kill Dapchia, the next day he will kill Wapchama, next he will kill Shehu of Borno, Ado Bayero. We rebel against you, between us and you is enmity and rancour until you believe only in Allah.

“The reason why I will kill you is you are infidels, you follow Democracy…Whoever follows Democracy is an infidel. This is Shekau, this is why I’m in enmity with you.

“Buhari is an infidel, Babangida is an infidel, Atiku is an infidel, late Yar’Adua was an infidel, Shehu of Borno is an infidel. You are all infidels. What makes you infidels is Democracy and constitution and western education…I therefore call on brethren in Kano to rise up and replicate the Baga attack.

“All these infidels we are the ones killing them. We enjoy shedding their blood. “The Koran must be supreme, we must establish Islam in this country; Not only in Borno, we will henceforth destroy any schools wherever we see them.”

Patience Jonathan's mum is dead

The mother of the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Dame Patience, Mrs. Iwarioba, popularly called Sisi, died yesterday in a road crash. The accident occurred at Elele in Rivers State. She was on her way to neighbouring Bayelsa State.
The accident happened around 4 pm, source said, adding that Mrs Iwarioba body was moved to Kpaima Mortuary on Elechi Beach, Mile One, Diobu, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, around 6 pm, by the self-acclaimed “Speaker” of Rivers House of Assembly, Evans Bipi, accompanied by many policemen.
Bipi, who represents Ogu/Bolo Constituency, is a former aide to the First Lady, who attended his marriage on June 15 at the St. Cyprian’s Anglican Church, Hospital Road, Port Harcourt, shortly after which she buried her grandfather at Okrika, during her 10-day visit to Rivers State.
Dame Patience, an indigene of Okrika, the headquarters of Okrika Local Government Area in Rivers State, who is in Geneva, Switzerland, according to sources who said she was immediately contacted expressed shock and she felt very bad over her mother’s death, according to a family source, who pleaded not to be named.
Details of the accident were sketchy last night, but a security man at the gate of the Kpaima Mortuary, who declined to give his name, said many armed policemen accompanied a body to the private facility, presuming that the deceased might be a prominent person.
The Rivers Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Dr. Kayode Olagunju, and the Rivers police spokesperson, Mrs. Angela Agabe, could not confirm the incident, stressing that they were yet to get the details from their officers and men at the scene of the accident.
A source said last night that the late Mrs Iwarioba was Mrs Jonathan’s stepmother, but this could not be immediately confirmed.

Information from The Nation newspaper was used in this report.

JTF arrests monarch, others for stealing oil

The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield, has arrested a traditional ruler and three other persons for allegedly stealing 2,000 metric tonnes of crude oil along the waterways of Akassa in Brass local government area of Bayelsa State.

The third class chief according to the state ranking of traditional rulers, was said to hail from Twon Brass.

He was reportedly apprehended after crew members arrested in the vessel claimed he was their main sponsor.

A security source said the searchlight of JTF was beamed on the activities of the monarch before his arrest.

The source, who craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter said some traditional rulers were funding oil theft.

“We discovered that the boys came under the cover of the night and siphoned crude oil from the oil pipelines along the Brass-Sagana River in Akassa area.

“We have discovered that some of these traditional rulers and community heads provide cover and funding for the activities of these oil thieves in Bayelsa.

“We have started a series of collaboration with communities but we will not spare those directly involved in the illicit trade,” the source added.

When contacted on the development, JTF Media Coordinator, Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, said he was yet to get the details of the arrest.

“I will get in touch with our men in Sagana area and get back to you”, he said.