Motion To Probe Killing Of 13 Police Officers Thrown out Of The House Of Reps

In a curious twist, the House of Representatives yesterday rejected a motion seeking to probe the alleged killing of 13 police officers by suspected militants in Bayelsa State, saying the matter was already being investigated by the police.

The motion to probe the killings was brought by Hon. Henry Ofongo (PDP, Bayelsa), on the first day of business after the House resumed from its two-weeks Easter break, who called for an inquest into the killings by the relevant committees of the House

No Regrets About Alamieyeseigha's Pardon- Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday said he had no regret over the state pardon he recently granted his political benefactor, former governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, despite the public outcry that trailed the exercise.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, made the President’s position known while featuring on a Radio Nigeria programme, Business Hour, monitored by our correspondent in Abuja.

Jonathan, Service Chiefs Meets On Amnesty Committee Report

President Goodluck Jonathan

Barely 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan met with traditional rulers from the north on the possibility of granting amnesty to members of the Boko Haram sect, another meeting between him and the service chiefs was held Tuesday to consider the report of the Amnesty Security Committee set up two weeks ago.

The committee, which was set up by Jonathan following the agitation by northern leaders, who had met with him on the precarious security situation in the region, was mandated to consider the feasibility of granting pardon to Boko Haram adherents, among other terms of reference.

Dangote To Build $8bn Refinery In Nigeria

Africa’s richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, plans to invest up to $8bn to build a Nigerian oil refinery with a capacity of around 400,000 barrels a day by late 2016, the tycoon told Reuters on Tuesday.

This will almost double Nigeria’s current refining capacity.

“This will really help not only Nigeria but sub-Saharan Africa. There has not been a new refinery for a long time in sub-Saharan Africa,” Dangote said in a telephone interview

Keshi Must Return To Nigeria If He Likes His Job-NFF

Emeka Inyama, a board member of the Nigeria Football Federation, has stated that Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi, has travelled to the US without permission and must return from his California base by Monday.

The former Mali and Togo boss left the country and failed to attend the meeting of the technicak committee and the NFF have asked him to return and answer a query.

“Keshi has been recalled and he must be in Abuja on Monday if he still cares about his job,” Inyama said.

4 Policemen Face Murder Charge For Allegedly Killing Two Persons

Four police officers have been arraigned before a High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State for allegedly killing two bus passengers.

They also allegedly shot another person in the foot.

The officers were said to have committed the act during a failed attempt to extort N50 from a bus driver.

The suspects, ASP Omorogbe, Inspector Emmason Udo, Hadiza Musa and Samirah Ileya of the Abacha Road Police Station, Obia/Akpor locality of Port Harcourt were alleged to have shot the victims sometimes in 2010 while the driver of the commercial bus in which the victims were riding attempted to escape from the policemen who demanded N50 from him at a check point

Three Arrested Over Murder Of 12 Policemen In Bayelsa State

Following the killing of 12 policemen by aggrieved militants in the creeks and waterways of Bayelsa State, the police in conjunction with operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Wednesday arrested three members of the group who allegedly carried out the killing.

The policemen, who were among a 50-man contingent deployed in Azuzama to provide security at the   burial of the mother of a repentant Niger Delta warlord, Kile Selky Torughedi, alias General Young Shall Grow, were killed in an ambush in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.

MEND Threatens To Resume Attacks On Friday

The Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta on Wednesday announced that it would on Friday (tomorrow) resume hostilities in the country.

In an e-mail sent to journalists, a copy of which was obtained by our correspondent, MEND’s spokesman, Gbomo Jomo, said a series of attacks, codenamed Hurricane Exodus, would begin at midnight on Friday.

It said the attacks would be “a direct repercussion of a forged threat letter contrived by the Nigerian and South African governments purporting to have originated from MEND”

Boko Haram Is Your Child,Buhari Blasts JONATHAN

Former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, slammed President Goodluck Jonathan, describing the virulent sect, Boko Haram, as a creation of the present administration.
President Jonathan, through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe had on Tuesday challenged General Buhari to persuade members of the sect to accept dialogue as a means of ending the orgy of violence in the North.
General Buhari, who apparently was angered by the Presidency’s attempt to link him with the sect, asked Jonathan to leave him alone and find ways of resolving the Boko Haram crisis, which he said, was borne out of the failure of his government.