Chibok Girls Still Alive - Intelligence Reports Reveal

•  Shekau, Daodu division takes its toll on Boko Haram 


• FG, DIA to unveil safe corridor for North-east

Senator Iroegbu in Abuja

Intelligence reports have revealed that at least half of the Chibok girls are still alive but held in various secret locations in the North-east region of Nigeria and neighbouring countries of the Lake Chad region.

Chibok girls

This is coming as the division between the Abubakar Shekau-led faction of the Boko Haram sect and a splinter group led by Mahamat Daoud, who recently claimed to be the new leader of the group, has weakened the resolve of the terrorists to carry on with their mission for an Islamic Caliphate.

THISDAY was informed by an intelligence source who vouched that some, but not all, of the Chibok girls were alive.

The source revealed that military intelligence was aware that some the girls were still with the terrorists in different locations, while some had been married off and may never be found again.

“We will never find all the girls again as intelligence findings revealed some have died, and some married away, while the rest are still divided among the terror groups in different locations both within the North-east and some neighbouring countries,” the source said.

Speaking further, the top intelligence officer revealed that advanced military intelligence in the last couple of months has helped to track down, dislodge, downgrade and destroy terrorist cells or enclaves.

The source noted that the new service chiefs had adopted intelligence-led measures for the counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations.

According to the officer, the noticeable cooperation between the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) and Nigerian Army, which has yielded the desired success had much to do with coordinated and sophisticated military intelligence.

“The aerial bombardments are more precise and decisive, hitting the right targets deep inside the Sambisa Forest, while the ground troops move with the aide of accurate and water-tight intelligence reports.

“Apart from the increasing involvement and coordination of the fighting between the army and air force, there is a highly centralised and sophisticated coordination of defence intelligence,” the source said.

In addition, the officer said there are cracks in the Boko Haram camp since Daodu-led group broke ranks from the Shekau pro-Islamic State (ISIS) group, stating that the division was taking its toll on Boko Haram members and breaking their will to fight.

Military intelligence, he said, had discovered that the new group, which is favourably disposed to negotiations with the federal government, pulled away from the Shekau-led remnants when their former leader formed an alliance with ISIS.

“This was against their original plan. In fact, they got fed up with the way Shekau was going on with the terror campaign, especially the alliance with ISIS. So right now, there are two camps and they are no longer coordinated and active

“Also, as they are increasingly in disarray, the precise and effective bombings in Sambisa Forest and other locations are driving them towards the border areas,” the source added.

In a related development, the federal government is marshalling out a plan for the safe return and rehabilitation of millions of people displaced in the North-eastern part of the country by Boko Haram activities.

The Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) driven programme tagged: ‘Safe Corridor’ which was to be unveiled yesterday by the Chief of Defence Intelligence (CDI), Air Vice Marshal Monday Morgan, was postponed to yet-to- be decided date to make it a more inclusive programme for all stakeholders.

While apologising for the postponement of the programme, the Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence (DCDI), Maj-Gen. SD Aliyu, said it would be a massive project, which would now be handled at the presidential level.

According to Aliyu, the planned operation ‘Safe Corridor’, is an intelligence driven programme that targets the return and rehabilitation of those affected by the Boko Haram terrorist activities.

“So we have to postpone this to a later date because the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), all the governors of the affected states, other top dignitaries and stakeholders will be in attendance,” he said.

Chibok Girls Still Alive - Intelligence Reports Reveal

Amaechi"s $757 million Theft: Defend CNN Amanpour Accusation -PDP

Rather than hiding under the cover of President Muhammadu Buhari and throwing in occasional jabs, the Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, wants former State Governor, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to be man enough to come out of hiding and respond to avalanche of corruption charges against him.

Rotimi Amaechi

The State chairman of the PDP, Bro Felix Obuah in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Jerry Needam said the degree and number of fraudulent acts initiated and committed by the former Governor are shocking and can no longer be glossed over.

Amazed by new revelations by the Amanpour Live report on the CNN bordering on monies stacked in various foreign accounts by the Ubima born former Governor, and dictator, Chibuike Amaechi, the State PDP boss said it’ll be foolhardy for any responsible government not to take the mind-blowing fraudulent  charges from both local and international scenes seriously.

The Amanpour Live report said the sum of over 757 million US Dollars was stacked by Amaechi in a foreign US Bancorp/Minnesota account.

A non-governmental organization, the Integrity Group has also petitioned to President Buhari as well as the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) respectively of various cases of criminal breach of trust, unlawful self enrichment and conversion of over N70 billion belonging to Rivers State government by former Governor Chibuike Amaechi among others.

This is aside of over USD105 million, amounting to about N21 billion which the PDP said Amaechi hurriedly transferred from the sale of the Power Assets proceeds Account with the Access Bank into accounts of three private Companies namely: Advante Consulting and Management Company, Result Import Experts Co and Capital Index Ltd, all with the same business address at 25 Trans-Amadi Road, Port Harcourt.

The State PDP chair described the discoveries as curious and shocking.

According to the party, there was also another unlawful payment to and fraudulent conversion of N4,633,440,000.00 by Clinoriv Specialist Hospital and Leisure Limited and unlawful enrichment of Messrs Collect Nig Limited, used as a conduit pipe to the tune of N1,505,895,072.00, to defraud the State government under the guise of consultancy by the former governor.

The list of corrupt practices against Amaechi and functionaries of his government, according to the PDP is endless.

The party therefore wants President Buhari to stop shielding Rotimi Amaechi and rather encourage him to come out of his hiding and face all these corruption allegations against him if his anti corruption crusade is genuine, and not targeted at perceived political enemies.

The PDP also wants the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other relevant anti graft agencies to immediately swing into action and recover all monies illegally stolen by Rotimi Amaechi and return same to the Rivers State government.

Amaechi"s $757 million Theft: Defend CNN Amanpour Accusation -PDP

Court declines to nullify confab report

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By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA -The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, yesterday, refused to void the outcome of the National Conference that was held in Abuja last year.

Jonathan and Forensic report of NNPC

The conference which was took place at the National Judicial Institute, NJI, in Abuja, was inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan on March 17.

It ended on August 14, 2014, after the participants, consisting of about 492 delegates that represented a cross-section of Nigerians, including professional bodies, produced and submitted a draft final report‎ that was drawn from reports of 20 committees that were set up during the conference.

However, a constitutional lawyer, Dr. Tunji Abayomi went to court to challenge the constitutionality of the conference which he said was not properly convened as stipulated by the law.

The plaintiff, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/ 167/204 and dated 3 March, 2014, maintained that President Jonathan lacked the constitutional power to convoke or convene a National Conference without the express backing of a law ratified by the National Assembly.

Joined as defendants in the suit were the Attorney-General of the Federation, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Abayomi specifically prayed the court to determine whether a National Conference can be convened by the President and/or government of Nigeria without a law made by the National Assembly enabling them to do so.

Though the suit was entered even before the conference began, however, following the decision of the f‎ederal government to proceed with it despite the pendency of the suit, the plaintiff, on March 18, withdrew his interlocutory motion to stop the confab, even as he urged the court to go ahead and determine its legality.

He further persuaded the court to join the Chairman of the conference and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Idris Legbo ‎Kutigi, the Vice Chairman, Prof Bolaji Akinyemi and the Secretary, Mrs Valerie Azinge as defendants in the suit on the ground that they were necessary parties.

His application to include them in the matter was not opposed by the defendants’ lawyer, Mr. Femi Fulani, SAN, who was also a participant at the conference.

The defendants however raised preliminary ‎objections against the suit which they said was grossly bereft of merit.

They further queried the locus-standi of the plaint‎iff to institute the action, even as they prayed the court to dismiss it.

‎‎While dismissing the suit yesterday, Justice Abdul Kafarati, agreed with the defendants, describing the suit as “a mere academic exercise”.

The court noted that the plaintiff failed to show how his personal rights were infringed upon.

It however refused to award any cost against the plaintiff.

Meanwhile, the plaintiff yesterday vowed to go on appeal.

In an affidavit in support of theg suit, which was deposed to by one Mr. Patrick Bisong, the plaintiff, alleged before the court that the federal government spent billions of public money to fund the conference despite the absence of any law enabling the President to convoke it, and notwithstanding the limited power invested in the President to use money to execute law or any legally authorized national idea.

He had initially prayed the court to restrain the government from going ahead with the conference, noting that if the defendants were not restrained, billions of tax payers money would be spent unconstitutionally by the government under the guise of organizing a national conference.

Besides, the plaintiff told the court that the President was working with deliberate speed to convene the conference, a move he said ought to be subjected to an intense judicial scrutiny.

 

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Court declines to nullify confab report

Nigeria’ll have highest child brides by 2050 – UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund has announced that Nigeria will have the highest number of child brides by year 2050 in its latest report.

Worldwide, more than 700 million women alive today were married before their 18th birthday.

According to the UNICEF in the report released in August, more than half of adolescent girls aged between 15 and 19 who are currently married have husbands that are 10 years older than they are.

The report said in part, “Furthermore, girls are often married to considerably older men. In Mauritania and Nigeria, more than half of adolescent girls aged 15 to 19, who are currently married, have husbands who are 10 or more years older than they are.

“In Africa, Nigeria is expected to have the largest absolute number of child brides. The country has seen a decline in child marriage of about one per cent per year over the past three decades. At this pace, the total number of child brides is expected to double by 2050.”

The UN’s children agency added that sub-Saharan Africa would have the largest number and global share of child brides in the next 36 years.

“In contrast to global trends, some countries have experienced stagnation or even increasing levels of child marriage. In Burkina Faso, prevalence has remained constant at around 50 per cent for the past three decades.

“If this persists, the number of child brides will increase substantially in the coming years as the population expands. Sub-Saharan Africa will have the largest number and global share of child brides by 2050,” it said.

Among the 700 million women alive today married before their 18th birthday. More than one in three (about 250 million) entered into union before age 15. Boys are also married as children, but girls are disproportionately affected.

In Niger, for instance, 77 per cent of women aged between 20 and 49 were married before age 18, in contrast to five per cent of men in the same age group. Even in countries where child marriage is less common, the same gender differences are found.

According to the report, child marriage is a manifestation of gender inequality, reflecting social norms that perpetuate discrimination against girls.

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Nigeria’ll have highest child brides by 2050 – UNICEF

Why Conference delegates won’t sign final report - Investigatation

Delegates at the National Conference are planning not to sign the final report of the conference unless they are given copies to read before they would append their signatures on it.

Investigations by our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday showed that the delegates felt that they needed to see the details of the reports.

Already, some of the delegates were said to have agreed that this condition must be met before they would append their signature to the conference’s final report.

It was leant that the promoters of this demand might have been influenced by some delegates who were not happy with some of the decisions arrived at during the debates on the reports of the 20 committees of the conference.

Some of the delegates were afraid that some contentious issues that were not agreed on or not favourable to them, could be inserted in the final report.

One of such decisions was the issue of derivation, which spilt the delegates during the plenary, as those from the northern part of the country said they would not support its increment from 13 to 18 per cent.

The northern delegates were asking that five per cent from the Federation Account be also set aside as National Intervention Fund for the reconstruction of the northern part of the country, which they said had been destroyed by the activities of terrorists.

While the northern delegates insisted that the fund must be enjoyed by the three zones in the region, which are North-East, North-West and North-Central, the southern delegates were of the opinion that the fund must be made available to all the zones in the country.

They also said the administration of the fund must start with the North-East, a proposal that was not favourably disposed to by the southern delegates.

This division made the Chairman of the conference, Justice Idris Kutigi, to announce on the day the plenary closed, that the issue of derivation and the intervention fund would be left for the Federal Government to determine.

“Conference therefore recommends that government should set up a technical committee to determine appropriate percentage for the three issues and advised government accordingly,” Kutigi had said.

It was issues like this that made the northern delegates to say that they would insist that the complete report must be made available for them before they would agree to sign it.

The spokesperson for the delegates, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, who spoke with our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday, said there was no way the delegates would be forced to sign.

He said, “Up till now, they have not told us how the report would be. They just asked us to report, like school children, on August 4. The leadership is so disorganised and may not know what to do.

“There are issues we did not agree on apart from the issue of derivation, and I’m saying that nobody can force us to sign what we have not read or go through or issues we even disagreed on substantially.

“Neither Kutigi nor Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi can force us to do that. We are waiting for them to bring their joker.”

A delegate from the South-South region, Mr. Paul Enebeli, also said that the delegates were yet to be briefed on the way the report would be presented.

But he said the delegates might demand for the records of proceedings at the plenary to enable them to study issues that were discusse and were agreed on or rejected.

“We need sufficient time to go through the reports. But we have requested for verbatim reports of the proceedings during the plenary,” he added.

Another delegate, who is a former President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Mr. Lanre Arogundade, said it would be wrong for the northern delegates to insist on the five cent intervention fund.

He said the money for the reconstruction of the zone was the one the Federal Government had asked the Gen. Theophilus Danjuma committee on Victims Support Fund to raise.

He also added that the intervention fund been demanded by the delegates from the North could also make their counterparts from other parts of the country to make similar demand.

Arogundade said, “What do they want to do with that again? The N30bn that the Danjuma Committee has been charged to raise is enough. We should not encourage all these kinds of issues to be coming up. Why did you think our brothers from the eastern part of the country are also asking for money to be paid for the victims of civil war?”

Why Conference delegates won’t sign final report - Investigatation