CAR: Ex-minister hacked to death with machetes

CAR Interim President Catherine Samba-Panza

A Muslim former minister has been hacked to death by machete-wielding men in the capital of the Central African Republic, as clashes escalated a day after interim President Catherine Samba-Panza took office.

At least nine other people were killed when bands of people, some of them Christian self-defence groups, attacked and looted shops in the mostly Muslim Miskine neighbourhood of Bangui on Friday, witnesses said.

Former minister Joseph Kalite, who once held the housing portfolio, was stepping out of a taxi when he was attacked, a family member now in hiding told the Reuters news agency by phone.

“The anti-balaka started attacking him with machetes and sticks and they killed him,” said the relative, who requested anonymity. He added that a brother-in-law who was with Kalite at the time of the attack managed to escape.

The landlocked former French colony descended into chaos last March when the Muslim rebel Seleka coalition seized power, unleashing a wave of killing and looting. That triggered revenge attacks by Christian militia known as ”anti-balaka”, or “anti-machete.”

The tit-for-tat violence has killed more than 2,000 people since December, and forced about a million more – nearly a quarter of the population – to flee despite the deployment of about 1,600 French troops and 5,000 African Union peacekeepers.

The minister’s body was later recovered and taken to the Ali Babolo Mosque where Reuters reporters saw the mutilated corpse.

“He wasn’t even holding any function within the Seleka, he was excluded by the Seleka, but as he was a Muslim official, they cowardly killed him because of that,” Mamoud Hissene, vice president of a Muslim youth organisation, told Reuters.

Source: Aljazeera

CAR: Ex-minister hacked to death with machetes

CAR Interim President Catherine Samba-Panza

A Muslim former minister has been hacked to death by machete-wielding men in the capital of the Central African Republic, as clashes escalated a day after interim President Catherine Samba-Panza took office.

At least nine other people were killed when bands of people, some of them Christian self-defence groups, attacked and looted shops in the mostly Muslim Miskine neighbourhood of Bangui on Friday, witnesses said.

Former minister Joseph Kalite, who once held the housing portfolio, was stepping out of a taxi when he was attacked, a family member now in hiding told the Reuters news agency by phone.

“The anti-balaka started attacking him with machetes and sticks and they killed him,” said the relative, who requested anonymity. He added that a brother-in-law who was with Kalite at the time of the attack managed to escape.

Boko Haram Terror on Village: 39 confirmed Dead

Suspected militants have shot dead at least 39 people in an attack on a village in north-eastern Nigeria.

The attackers - believed to be from the Boko Haram group - destroyed the entire village of Mainok, about 50km (30 miles) west of the city of Maiduguri.

The incident took place late on Saturday, hours after two bomb blasts killed at least 50 people in Maiduguri.

Boko Haram has been conducting a four-year violent campaign to demand Islamic rule in northern Nigeria.

The morning after the latest attack, bodies were lying in front of the mosque waiting to be buried and buildings in Mainok were still on fire, the BBC's Will Ross reports from Lagos.


An eyewitness described how the attack unfolded: "They started shooting everywhere, they started burning all the houses in the village.

"I don't think that there is any house that is standing in the village and they have killed at least 39 people in the village.

"These people have guns - AK47, RPGs and so on and so forth, they can come and attack anybody and kill, including women and children, they kill everybody that can see them."


Culled from BBC

Boko Haram Terror on Village: 39 confirmed Dead

Suspected militants have shot dead at least 39 people in an attack on a village in north-eastern Nigeria.

The attackers - believed to be from the Boko Haram group - destroyed the entire village of Mainok, about 50km (30 miles) west of the city of Maiduguri.

The incident took place late on Saturday, hours after two bomb blasts killed at least 50 people in Maiduguri.

Boko Haram has been conducting a four-year violent campaign to demand Islamic rule in northern Nigeria.

The morning after the latest attack, bodies were lying in front of the mosque waiting to be buried and buildings in Mainok were still on fire, the BBC's Will Ross reports from Lagos.

Gunmen kill 2 policemen in attempt to steal church offering in Ibadan

DARE-devil robbers, yesterday, desecrated a church as they shot two policemen dead at the Vine Branch Church, Queen Elizabeth Road, Ibadan, after their failed attempts to steal the church’s tithes and offering.

Policemen were also said to have fired some fatal shots at one of the robbers who was reportedly taken  away by his gang members.

According to sources, the robbers, who were said to have mixed with the congregation, accosted a banker who is in charge of the collections, but the robbers miscalculated as nothing was found on him.

Infuriated, the robbers reportedly shot in the air thereby causing commotion in the well attended church.

When they missed their target, Vanguard gathered that the robbers, in annoyance, shot two police officers who were on guard in their van outside the church.

Of the three occupants of the police van, only the driver escaped the robbers’ bullets.

According to reports, the rampaging robbers tried to cover their tracks as they made attempts to destroy the monitoring gadgets.

The Police Public Relations Officer,  Oyo State Police Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP Olabisi Ilobanafor said the command lost two of its officers in the attack

Source: Vanguard

Gunmen kill 2 policemen in attempt to steal church offering in Ibadan

DARE-devil robbers, yesterday, desecrated a church as they shot two policemen dead at the Vine Branch Church, Queen Elizabeth Road, Ibadan, after their failed attempts to steal the church’s tithes and offering.

Policemen were also said to have fired some fatal shots at one of the robbers who was reportedly taken  away by his gang members.

According to sources, the robbers, who were said to have mixed with the congregation, accosted a banker who is in charge of the collections, but the robbers miscalculated as nothing was found on him.

Infuriated, the robbers reportedly shot in the air thereby causing commotion in the well attended church.

Stop your abracadabra polling, Presidency tells APC.

President Jonathan and Lai Muhammed

The Presidency Sunday dismissed as ‘voodoo and quackery’ the purported poll results which the All Progressive Congress said it conducted that shows the popularity rating of President Goodluck Jonathan as being lower than that of a yet to be named candidate of the APC. 

In an interview Sunday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati said rather than engage in subject matter that it had neither expertise on competence, the APC should concentrate on making its identity known to Nigerians.

He said: “I have read a statement issued by Alhaji Lai Muhammed with regards to the plan by the APC to unveil its manifesto on Thursday.

“While we share the view that the APC has the view to unveil its manifesto because nobody really knows what the party stands for and Nigerians are curious to have a properly articulated position of the APC rather than its inarticulate engagement with Nigerian public but the basis on which the APC is trying to unveil the manifesto is dubious and suspicious.

“The APC is, according to Muhammed, is presenting its poll on the basis on certain poll that it conducted which shows the administration in a bad light.

“I have read the details of the poll purportedly conducted by the APC. To start with, polling in any category at all is a very serious business. It is not something that any roadside adventurer can engage in.

“What the APC has done is that, it has abandoned its core business of politics to dabble into polling, and what it has come up with is a voodoo exercise. The result of the polls purportedly conducted by the APC is nothing but a great exercise in quackery.

“APC is not licensed to be a polling agency, it has neither the expertise and the exposure nor the track record. It is not surprising that the outcome of its so-called polling is dubious.

“It says for example that if elections were to be held today, whether Nigerians will vote for President Goodluck Jonathan or the candidate of the APC.

“To the best of everybody’s knowledge, the APC does not even have a candidate yet. It has not named anybody as its candidate, the INEC has not even blown any whistle to initiate the submission of names of candidates.

“The APC on the basis of an unknown candidate is saying that their candidate will have a 10-point lead. I don’t think Nigerians are that gullible. It does not make sense, it does not look objective.

“The parameters and variables used are suspicious. People don’t vote for unknown characters. At that level, I think this is a kind of polling in which you work to a predetermined answer. The polling is a very good illustration of quackery.

“They also came up with a claim that President Jonathan has done nothing to create jobs. This is nothing but a gross display of ignorance. The ignorance is self-imposed because the administration has done more than enough and will continue to do a lot to demonstrate how it has been creating jobs.

“In fact, job and wealth creation are two cardinal objectives and targets and achievements of this administration.

“For the APC to pretend in their voodoo polling that they are not aware of that is the height of dishonesty and their statement should be disregarded.

“There is nothing in this voodoo polling that Lai Muhammed has not said before. So any discerning reader of the statement will see very clearly that this is just clearly partisan politicking. The kind of politics that is played without being clever about it. It is crude, unintelligent and the vodoo nature of it and the quackery that surrounds it make it more meaningless.

“What we know is that professional polling agencies have shown and the most recent one is the one by NOI Polls, which had a good track record, the result from that is that the President’s popularity is on the rise.

“In that report, President Jonathan was given a 61 per cent job performance rating. It even noted that this is a major increase in the President’s rating.

“But this APC is obviously going through a crisis of identity. The owners of the party must make up their minds whether they are running a political party or a voodoo polling agency” he concluded.

Source: Vanguard

Stop your abracadabra polling, Presidency tells APC.

President Jonathan and Lai Muhammed

The Presidency Sunday dismissed as ‘voodoo and quackery’ the purported poll results which the All Progressive Congress said it conducted that shows the popularity rating of President Goodluck Jonathan as being lower than that of a yet to be named candidate of the APC. 

In an interview Sunday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati said rather than engage in subject matter that it had neither expertise on competence, the APC should concentrate on making its identity known to Nigerians.

He said: “I have read a statement issued by Alhaji Lai Muhammed with regards to the plan by the APC to unveil its manifesto on Thursday.

“While we share the view that the APC has the view to unveil its manifesto because nobody really knows what the party stands for and Nigerians are curious to have a properly articulated position of the APC rather than its inarticulate engagement with Nigerian public but the basis on which the APC is trying to unveil the manifesto is dubious and suspicious.

I shunned Nigeria’s centenary to pay back Jonathan – Amaechi

Governor Rotimi Amaechi

RIVERS State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has said that he stayed away from the Nigeria’s centenary in Abuja in order to get even with President Goodluck Jonathan whom he said failed to honour the invitation to 100 years anniversary of Port Harcourt last year.

The governor explained that even when prominent indigenes of the state visited the President in Abuja and invited him to the 2013 event in Port Harcourt, he refused to be at the occasion.

Amaechi, who spoke at a book presentation to mark the 70th birthday of the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Nimi Briggs, on Saturday, explained that he had expected Jonathan to honour the invitation from the state.

He said, “When they ask me why I did not attend the celebration, I said five prominent Rivers men left here to go and invite the President. When they approached me that they wanted to go and invite the President, I said, ‘don’t bother your head, the President won’t come.’

“They said ‘no, not after he had seen us.’ They (Rivers indigenes) are seated hear, Justice Karibi Whyte, Prof Tekena Tamuno, Prof E.J. Alagwa, Chief Agbaru and Prof. Nimi Briggs; and they went. They were very well received by our President and they were very impressed.

“They came back to my house that day in Abuja and they told me that they met with the President and I was excited. Everybody in the Federal Government told me the President would come (for the Port Harcourt centenary). The President did not come.

“So, I told them that I would not go to (Nigeria’s) centenary because Port Harcourt turned 100 and the President refused to come even though he grew up here. I said I would not go to Nigeria’s Centenary in response to his (Jonathan) refusal to come for Port Harcourt Centenary.

“I did that not because I wanted to disrespect the President. I respect him for his age and his achievement in the society. I thought that the Federal Government should have respected and honoured that invitation,” Amaechi said.

On the political crisis in the state, the governor said the only way the problem could come to an end was for the state to benefit from Federal Government projects.

He acknowledged the presence of some elders in the state that could make him move from the All Progressives Congress back to the Peoples Democratic Party, but added that such elders had not been convinced on the need for him to leave the APC.

He said, “They asked me, how would you end this crisis? I say with me, it will be difficult to end because I stand forward to look at Rivers State. I said the only way to end it is to change the face of Rivers State. If Rivers people get better things, I will change.

“Then I put a caveat; I said there are some old men here who can make me move from APC to PDP because they will never tell me to move to PDP if they are not convinced that it is the right thing to do. This means you can’t influence them with anything rather than what is right for Rivers State and Nigeria.

“They are here; they know themselves and they have been part of the struggle in a very quiet manner and they support me. My prayer is that God will continue to bless all of you.”

Source: Punch

I shunned Nigeria’s centenary to pay back Jonathan – Amaechi

Governor Rotimi Amaechi

RIVERS State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has said that he stayed away from the Nigeria’s centenary in Abuja in order to get even with President Goodluck Jonathan whom he said failed to honour the invitation to 100 years anniversary of Port Harcourt last year.

The governor explained that even when prominent indigenes of the state visited the President in Abuja and invited him to the 2013 event in Port Harcourt, he refused to be at the occasion.

Amaechi, who spoke at a book presentation to mark the 70th birthday of the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Nimi Briggs, on Saturday, explained that he had expected Jonathan to honour the invitation from the state.

He said, “When they ask me why I did not attend the celebration, I said five prominent Rivers men left here to go and invite the President. When they approached me that they wanted to go and invite the President, I said, ‘don’t bother your head, the President won’t come.’

Breaking: Boko Haram burns down Mainok village, 25 suspects arrested

Few hours after a twin-bomb blast rocked Ngomari Ward in Bullumkuttu, killing about 7 people, suspected members of the Boko Haram stormed Mainok village along Maiduguri-Damaturu road and set the whole village ablaze.

Although the casualty figure has not been established, DailyPost gathered that the sect members attacked the village on Saturday at about 7 pm.

It was observed that security operatives, who are on the red alert, have impounded nine trucks carrying firewood, while about 25 suspects were seen sitting on the ground with security operatives surrounding them.

A security official who expressed worry over the situation in Borno said, “perhaps it is time to apply the Odi, Zaki Biam military might on Borno, particularly to end this stupidity.

“Our men are being wasted because we have not taken serious action to deal with all those taunting the Nigerian military. If we are given the Presidential go ahead to actually deal with every so-called big man that has been pointed to have a hand in this situation, the crises will come to an end.

“Now, everybody talks about the Nigerian Army as if we have no might to fight these criminals, simply because we are trying to be civil in our approaches to the situation.

“Our men needs action now and if they say go into action, in three hours, the entire history of this crises would change because we are able”.

He lamented that so many persons who had made treasonable statements were still walking the streets.

Source: Dailypostng

Breaking: Boko Haram burns down Mainok village, 25 suspects arrested

Few hours after a twin-bomb blast rocked Ngomari Ward in Bullumkuttu, killing about 7 people, suspected members of the Boko Haram stormed Mainok village along Maiduguri-Damaturu road and set the whole village ablaze.

Although the casualty figure has not been established, DailyPost gathered that the sect members attacked the village on Saturday at about 7 pm.

It was observed that security operatives, who are on the red alert, have impounded nine trucks carrying firewood, while about 25 suspects were seen sitting on the ground with security operatives surrounding them.

A security official who expressed worry over the situation in Borno said, “perhaps it is time to apply the Odi, Zaki Biam military might on Borno, particularly to end this stupidity.

“Our men are being wasted because we have not taken serious action to deal with all those taunting the Nigerian military. If we are given the Presidential go ahead to actually deal with every so-called big man that has been pointed to have a hand in this situation, the crises will come to an end.

Man City Defeats Sunderland to Win Capital One Cup

It all started well for Sunderland.

Manchester City produced a devastating second-half comeback to beat Sunderland 3-1 in the Capital One Cup final.

Fabio Borini put the Black Cats 1 – 0 up after just nine minutes with a goal set up by Adam Johnson.

Manager Gus Poyet celebrated from the touchline, arms outstretched.

But, in the second half, two Manchester City goals in two minutes ended the dreams of bringing a major trophy back to Wearside for the first time in 40 years.

Yaya Toure scored at 54 minutes with a shot 30 yards from the goal into the top corner.

Two minutes later, Samir Nazri put Pellegrini’s men ahead.

And in the 89th minute, Jesus Navas sealed the win for the favourites.

Final score: Sunderland 1 – 3 Manchester City.

Source: Punch

Man City Defeats Sunderland to Win Capital One Cup

It all started well for Sunderland.

Manchester City produced a devastating second-half comeback to beat Sunderland 3-1 in the Capital One Cup final.

Fabio Borini put the Black Cats 1 – 0 up after just nine minutes with a goal set up by Adam Johnson.

Manager Gus Poyet celebrated from the touchline, arms outstretched.

But, in the second half, two Manchester City goals in two minutes ended the dreams of bringing a major trophy back to Wearside for the first time in 40 years.

Yaya Toure scored at 54 minutes with a shot 30 yards from the goal into the top corner.

Two minutes later, Samir Nazri put Pellegrini’s men ahead.

And in the 89th minute, Jesus Navas sealed the win for the favourites.

Final score: Sunderland 1 – 3 Manchester City.

Source: Punch

APC to unveil manifesto on March 6

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to unveil its “Road map to a New Nigeria” at the Party’s National Summit to be held in Abuja on Thursday, March 6th.

The Interim National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday that the Road map will detail the party’s priorities in fixing the widespread failings of successive PDP governments since 1999, in order to bring hope and succour to the long-suffering people of Nigeria.

It said the Road map was a product of an empirical and painstaking process embarked upon by the APC, in a deviation from the old practice of packaging such documents on a whim.

”With conditions deteriorating throughout Nigeria, with security an ever increasing concern, with the lack of jobs pushing families and young people further and further into poverty and with new stories of corruption within the PDP government appearing day after day, the APC decided to commission the largest ever public opinion survey in Nigerian history to determine the current status of things in the nation directly from those who knew best – the actual people of Nigeria.

”The results were even more revealing than the APC had anticipated: When asked, ‘If the election were held today, would you vote for Goodluck Jonathan or the candidate of the All Progressives Congress’, the APC candidate held a ten-point lead over the President. By a margin of 44% to 34% (with 22% undecided), the APC candidate was the clear national choice.

”When asked, ‘In general, do you think things in Nigeria are going in a good direction or bad direction’, by a staggering more than two-to-one margin (50%-24%), Nigerians responded that the country was going in a bad direction. When asked, ‘What issue would you like the President and National Assembly to focus on most’, an overwhelmingnmajority (60%) said jobs was the dominant issue that the government should address.

”And then when asked if they found the following statement convincing or note, ‘Goodluck Jonathan has done nothing to create jobs, and far too many people are still unemployed’, decisively, 58% of Nigerians found that argument about Jonathan convincing.

Finally when asked if Jonathan was doing a good or bad job fighting corruption, 59% Nigerians thought Jonathan was doing a bad job fighting corruption.

”The voice of the people was clear: The nation is going in the wrong direction. The nation wants change and would not vote to re-elect Jonathan in part because the number one issue to Nigerians is jobs and the nation believes Jonathan has no credibility on the issue of job
creation,” APC said.

According to the party, the unveiling of the party’s Road map, designed with the survey results in mind and the real needs of the Nigerian people made evident by the people themselves, will be the clearest indication yet that the Movement for Change has indeed begun.

Source: Vanguard 

APC to unveil manifesto on March 6

The All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to unveil its “Road map to a New Nigeria” at the Party’s National Summit to be held in Abuja on Thursday, March 6th.

The Interim National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday that the Road map will detail the party’s priorities in fixing the widespread failings of successive PDP governments since 1999, in order to bring hope and succour to the long-suffering people of Nigeria.

It said the Road map was a product of an empirical and painstaking process embarked upon by the APC, in a deviation from the old practice of packaging such documents on a whim.

”With conditions deteriorating throughout Nigeria, with security an ever increasing concern, with the lack of jobs pushing families and young people further and further into poverty and with new stories of corruption within the PDP government appearing day after day, the APC decided to commission the largest ever public opinion survey in Nigerian history to determine the current status of things in the nation directly from those who knew best – the actual people of Nigeria.

Update on Boko Haram Bombs Maiduguri: Over 100 feared dead

It was another tragic day in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, yesterday, after twin explosions reportedly killed about 100 people, some of them football fans.

The first explosion was said to have killed dozens of the fans in a ‘viewing centre’ when suspected improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were detonated at about 6pm.

The second explosion, it was learnt, went off as rescuers rushed to the scene, killing many more.

In another location, Dugolong village, in Askira Uba local government area of the state, about 20 persons were allegedly killed.

It was not clear if the incident was a terror attack or resulted from airstrikes as an airforce fighter jet was said to have been spotted around the scene at the time of attack.

Meanwhile, a female student of the state college of education, Waka, in Biu LGA was said to have been slaughtered by suspected Boko Haram insurgents on Friday.

In the Maiduguri attack, fans, according to an eye witness, were watching football in a ‘viewing centre’ when the explosion occurred.

“The explosion apparently left about 70 dead,” the eye witness said.

The blast was said to have attracted many people nearby including wedding guests who launched a rescue operation.

“Moments after the rescue operation got underway, another explosion went off, killing many more and wounding several others.”

The eye witness believed the second explosion was detonated from two pick up vans disguised as selling firewood.

“As I am talking to you now, we have counted over 70 corpses. Even then, some have been taken to hospital, dead or injured. We probably have at least 100 dead,” he added.

In the Dugolong attack, report said insurgents laid an ambush which killed over 20 people, while another version said the deaths resulted from airstrikes launched by government forces.

The state Police Commissioner, Mr. Lawal Tanko, confirmed the incident but could not give casuality figures. But a security source, confirmed the incidents thus: “Yes, there were twin explosions in Maiduguri metropolis on Saturday evening. There was also an attack in Dugolong on Friday. Although we are yet to ascertain those behind the Dugolong incident, preliminary investigation revealed that the attack took place when a fighter jet was firing at suspected insurgents killing over 20 of them”.

At press time, a fighter jet was seen hovering over Maiduguri while most residents could not wait for the 9pm curfew imposed on the Borno capital before rushing back home leaving almost all the streets deserted.

Yesterday’s bombings came in the wake of the insurgency attack on a school in Yobe State last week which killed about 59 students; and another raid in Adamawa State with over two dozens deaths.

Source: Vanguard

Update on Boko Haram Bombs Maiduguri: Over 100 feared dead

It was another tragic day in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, yesterday, after twin explosions reportedly killed about 100 people, some of them football fans.

The first explosion was said to have killed dozens of the fans in a ‘viewing centre’ when suspected improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were detonated at about 6pm.

The second explosion, it was learnt, went off as rescuers rushed to the scene, killing many more.

In another location, Dugolong village, in Askira Uba local government area of the state, about 20 persons were allegedly killed.

It was not clear if the incident was a terror attack or resulted from airstrikes as an airforce fighter jet was said to have been spotted around the scene at the time of attack.

Meanwhile, a female student of the state college of education, Waka, in Biu LGA was said to have been slaughtered by suspected Boko Haram insurgents on Friday.

Sharing centenary award with Abacha, an insult — Soyinka

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Saturday said he rejected the centenary award to be conferred on him by the Federal Government because the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, was included in the list of awardees.

In a statement entitled, ‘The canonisation of terror,’ Soyinka said it was an insult for him to be listed alongside Abacha for the award, more so when killings of innocent citizens by the Boko Haram sect was ongoing in the North-East.

Soyinka recalled the state-sponsored assassinations and abuse of human rights that occurred during Abacha’s reign as military Head of State, and asked why the Federal Government had not changed the names of roads, hospitals and other public facilities that were named after Abacha.

He said, “Under that ruler, torture and other forms of barbarism were enthroned as the norm of governance. Nine Nigerian citizens, including the writer and environmentalist, Ken Saro-wiwa, were hanged after a trial that was stomach-churning even by the most primitive standards of judicial trial, and in defiance of the intervention of world leadership.

“We are speaking of a man who placed this nation under siege during an unrelenting reign of terror that is barely different from the current rampage of Boko Haram. It is this very psychopath that was recently canonised by the government of Goodluck Jonathan in commemoration of one hundred years of Nigerian trauma.”

Soyinka added that by honouring Abacha, President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration had ridiculed Nigeria in the presence of world leaders by glorifying “murderers and thieves.”

“What the government of Goodluck Jonathan has done is to scoop up a century’s accumulated degeneracy in one preeminent symbol, then place it on a podium for the nation to admire, emulate and even – worship.

“Such abandonment of moral rigour comes full circle sooner or later. The survivors of a plague known as Boko Haram, students in a place of enlightenment and moral instruction, are taken to a place of healing dedicated to an individual contagion – a murderer and thief of no redeeming quality known as Sani Abacha, one whose plunder is still being pursued all over the world and recovered piecemeal by international consortiums – at the behest of this same government which sees fit to place him on the nation’s Roll of Honour!

“I can think of nothing more grotesque and derisive of the lifetime struggle of several on this list, and their selfless services to humanity. It all fits. In this nation of portent readers, the coincidence should not be too difficult to decipher. I reject my share of this national insult,” the statement read in part.

Source: Punch

Sharing centenary award with Abacha, an insult — Soyinka

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka

Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Saturday said he rejected the centenary award to be conferred on him by the Federal Government because the late military dictator, Gen. Sani Abacha, was included in the list of awardees.

In a statement entitled, ‘The canonisation of terror,’ Soyinka said it was an insult for him to be listed alongside Abacha for the award, more so when killings of innocent citizens by the Boko Haram sect was ongoing in the North-East.

Soyinka recalled the state-sponsored assassinations and abuse of human rights that occurred during Abacha’s reign as military Head of State, and asked why the Federal Government had not changed the names of roads, hospitals and other public facilities that were named after Abacha.

He said, “Under that ruler, torture and other forms of barbarism were enthroned as the norm of governance. Nine Nigerian citizens, including the writer and environmentalist, Ken Saro-wiwa, were hanged after a trial that was stomach-churning even by the most primitive standards of judicial trial, and in defiance of the intervention of world leadership.

“We are speaking of a man who placed this nation under siege during an unrelenting reign of terror that is barely different from the current rampage of Boko Haram. It is this very psychopath that was recently canonised by the government of Goodluck Jonathan in commemoration of one hundred years of Nigerian trauma.”