January 20, 2014

RIVERS: Violent Attack On Pro-Amaechi Rally, People Shot, Amaechi Alleges Plot By Police

RIVERS: Violent Attack On Pro-Amaechi Rally, People Shot, Amaechi Alleges Plot By Police
Hoodlums suspected to be militants on Sunday invaded the Save Rivers Movement rally in Bori, Khana Local Government Area and unleashed terror on members of the group.
The militants, who wore masks were said to have shot sporadically mostly at vehicles parked at the venue of the event by state government officials.
The Secretary to the State Government, Mr. George Feyii, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Chief Tony Okocha, and some journalists were among those that escaped death by a whisker.
Some however sustained serious bullet injuries during the incident that occurred barely a week after a similar rally was disrupted by operatives of the Rivers State Police Command in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.
Okocha was also lucky during the Obio Akpor rally but a pro-Rotimi Amaechi senator, Magnus Abe, was not as he was shot with rubber bullets by policemen.
It was learnt that during the latest incident, the militants, who besieged the All Saints Anglican Church venue of the rally, had begun shooting within Bori around 4.30am on Sunday.
They (hoodlums) however marched to the open field and fired at the parked vehicles at about 10. 40am, forcing the SRM members to flee. The first group of militants arrived wielding cutlasses while the second group came in later, wearing masks and shooting intermittently with sophisticated weapons.
However, the absence of security operatives at the venue made the attackers to have a field day. Channels Television crew members that were on the ground to cover the event had the windscreen of their Outside Broadcasting Van smashed.
The SSG’s bullet-riddled Brilliance saloon car was seen being driven out of the venue of the rally. A government official said they had to run into the bush when they saw a group of masked militants arriving the venue.
He said, “Immediately they came close, they started shooting at some of our vehicles. Some of us would have died if we had not taken the decision to run into the bush.”
Okocha told journalists that his personal security aides and those of the SGS rescued them. Channel’s reporter, Grace Ekang, said she was “traumatised by the incident.”
Amaechi said that democracy was in danger in the country with the insecurity in the state and added that the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, had declared war on his administration and the people of the state. He accused Mbu of being part of the attack on SRM supporters, maintaining that the Federal Government was desperate to win the 2015 elections.
The governor said,
“There is a serious danger for democracy because what you are seeing here is close to what Abacha was doing. This is worse than the Abacha government. Here, people are being shot. This is worse because even governors were not arrested under Abacha. We heard Mbu called a meeting at the police officers mess and declared war on the Rivers State Government and Rivers State people. He is determined to ensure that they are not protected. He warned policemen in the state in advance not to protect anybody at the rally.
“The interpretation of this is that he knew that there was going to be an attack and he must have been part of the process of the attack. If he did not, then when the people started shooting around 4am, what did the police do?
“The lives of our people are not being protected because he (Jonathan) sent a police commissioner through his wife to pursue an election that is one year away.”
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad, said though he received report of the attack, he was not aware that anybody was injured. 
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/57034.html

Isidingo actress Lesego Motsepe dies in her home at age 39

Actress Lesego Motsepe best known as “Letti Matabane” on South African/Mnet soap Isidingo has passed away.
The motivational speaker and AIDS ambassador died today Monday January 20th, according to a statement released by her family. She was found dead at her home in Randburg, South Africa by her brother, Moemise, this morning at 11:00 and paramedics confirmed that she died of natural causes at about 13:00. She was aged 39.
The actress has been living with HIV/AIDS since 1998. She is survived by family and friends. May her soul rest in peace, Amen.

'I Went Through Hell In Office' - Bamanga Tukur Has A Word For His Successor

'I Went Through Hell In Office' - Bamanga Tukur Has A Word For His Successor
The former National chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Bamanga Tukur, reflecting on his 21-month tenure said he went through hell in office.
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He warned whoever was going to take over from him to be wary of “evil plots” by certain members whose mission is to completely destroy the party. He advised the person to be fearless, consistent and focused.
Tukur said, “Some members got so desperate that they turned to the media and funded all negative reports against me. If you are familiar with all the negative media reports, none attributed any wrongdoing to me. The reports only echoed the views of the sponsors that I was unbending in my desire to change the bad situation in PDP.
He added that if not for the wisdom and doggedness of President Goodluck Jonathan, the party would have collapsed long before now and that his resignation was a huge sacrifice, adding that he would continue to support the President and the PDP to the best of his ability.
He however insisted he stood by every decision he took while in office, saying such decisions were meant to reform the party and to deepen internal democracy.
He therefore called on Nigerians to continue to pray for Jonathan and the PDP to overcome its trying moments.
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Ex- Gov. Mu’azu, Accused Of Stealing N19.8billion, Is New PDP Chairman -

Barring any last-minute change in plan, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will, at its National Executive Committee
meeting on Monday (today), ratify a former governor of Bauchi state,
Adamu Mu’azu, as its new national chairman, party and presidency sources have said.

The usually reliable
sources told PREMIUM TIMES early Monday morning that Mr. Mu’azu
emerged the consensus candidate for the job after a rash of meetings
involving President Goodluck Jonathan, PDP governors and other
influential chieftains of the party, including Vice President Namadi Sambo and President of the
Senate, David Mark.

Mr. Mu’azu, who will now
replace Bamanga Tukur,who was forced out ofvoffice Thursday, emerged ahead of Minister of
Transport, Idris Umar, a former Minister of Commerce, Idris Waziri,
former Acting National Secretary of the party, Musa Babayo, a former
party spokesperson, Ahmed Rufai Alkali and a former minister of the
Federal Capital Territory, Ibrahim Bunu, who were all widely reported to have jostled for the
position.

A party source familiar with the maneuverings and negotiations that threw up Mr. Mu’azu said
President Jonathan actually preferred Minister Umar for the
position but was outfoxed
by governors from the
North-East geopolitical zone who all rooted for Mr. Mu’azu.

When Mr. Jonathan tried
to insist on Mr. Umar,
insiders say, the North-
East governors reminded
him of how they deferred to him two years ago when he insisted on Mr. Tukur for the position in
spite of massive opposition from the zone.

CONtinue reading

Oyo Accord Leader Escapes Assassination

A member of the Accord Party in Oyo State, Soji Oladejo, narrowly escaped death on Sunday when a gang suspected to be hired assassins visited his house at Ogbere Moradeyo, Sawmill, Ibadan, asking for him.
His private guard, whose name was given as P. A. Oyadotun, was not lucky though, as he was hacked down by the assailants.
Mr. Oladejo, also known as Success, said it was divine intervention that saved him from imminent death. He said he was attending a night vigil at a nearby church when the agents of death struck his home.
According to him, the gang entered the house around 2.05 a.m after breaking the fence and forcing their way through.
“They killed the guard and threatened to kill all members of my household if I was not produced,” he said. The politician added that gang thought he was hiding inside his car parked inside the compound and sporadically fired guns shots at the vehicle.
“After dealing with my household and they established that I was not in the house, they left taking away one of my children’s’ laptop,” he stated further.
The state police command was yet to officially comment on the incident when this report was being filed, but detectives from the Agugu Police station had already visited the scene probably to commence investigations.
Sympathisers are also thronging to Mr. Oladejo’s house to identify with him.
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VIDEO : President Jonathan's National Conference Is A Fraud - Human Rights Lawyer, Festus Keyamo

Human rights lawyer, Festus Keyamo has shared his opinion on President Jonathan's National Conference saying it's a Fraud.
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Watch video below
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I’ve Shamed My Critics – Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah

I’ve Shamed My Critics – Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah
Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, has explained why a handful of detractors remains unrelenting in the criticisms of her and the aviation industry.
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The minister lamented in Abuja yesterday that apart  from the political side to her travails, “entrenched interests in the aviation sector which have been ripping off the sector in the past 38 years and held the sector and stifling its development” were behind orchestrated attempts to disparage her.
Oduah, who sounded defiant, made it clear that she would not abandon the transformation agenda she was vigorously pursuing in the aviation sector because of the antics of her traducers so that Nigerians could derive maximum benefits from her struggle.
The minister’s words:”For the over 38 years that our airports were a damning commentary on our status as part of the civilised world; or when our airspace existed without the requisite navigational facilities to make the airspace safe; these category of persons saw no evil and heard no evil while they happily clapped their ways to the banks.
“This group has carried on with bitter venom, throwing decency and honour overboard, lying and misleading the Nigerian populace even when they know the truth because my team and I changed the game in favour of Nigeria attaining her pride of place in the comity of nations.
“For this category, that is the entrenched, corrupt and profligate individuals and entities who have caused the serious rot in the aviation sector, I owe no apologies.
“All I owe them is to further inform them that the current generation has seen through them and are no longer willing to tolerate their antics.”
Preferring not to comment on the controversial armoured cars saga, Oduah said the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan had changed the ways of doing things significantly in the country as  the president recognised the infrastructural deficit in the nation and taken very bold steps to address them in order to bequeath to the next generation a nation that can compete favourably in the comity of nations and imbue our next generation with pride and patriotism.
She said, “The massive investment and the aggressive prosecution of this agenda  in this regard have seen the aviation sector being transformed. Today,  22 airports owned by the Federal Government are at various stages of becoming decent and world class terminals.
”Nigeria’s airspace has become one of the safest in the world with the deployment of modern navigational equipments and infrastructures. The oversight capacity of the whole sector has been strengthened with the relevant regulations  in place and the training and retraining of personnel.”
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/56997.html

I’ve Shamed My Critics – Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah

I’ve Shamed My Critics – Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah
Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, has explained why a handful of detractors remains unrelenting in the criticisms of her and the aviation industry.
photo
The minister lamented in Abuja yesterday that apart  from the political side to her travails, “entrenched interests in the aviation sector which have been ripping off the sector in the past 38 years and held the sector and stifling its development” were behind orchestrated attempts to disparage her.
Oduah, who sounded defiant, made it clear that she would not abandon the transformation agenda she was vigorously pursuing in the aviation sector because of the antics of her traducers so that Nigerians could derive maximum benefits from her struggle.
The minister’s words:”For the over 38 years that our airports were a damning commentary on our status as part of the civilised world; or when our airspace existed without the requisite navigational facilities to make the airspace safe; these category of persons saw no evil and heard no evil while they happily clapped their ways to the banks.
“This group has carried on with bitter venom, throwing decency and honour overboard, lying and misleading the Nigerian populace even when they know the truth because my team and I changed the game in favour of Nigeria attaining her pride of place in the comity of nations.
“For this category, that is the entrenched, corrupt and profligate individuals and entities who have caused the serious rot in the aviation sector, I owe no apologies.
“All I owe them is to further inform them that the current generation has seen through them and are no longer willing to tolerate their antics.”
Preferring not to comment on the controversial armoured cars saga, Oduah said the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan had changed the ways of doing things significantly in the country as  the president recognised the infrastructural deficit in the nation and taken very bold steps to address them in order to bequeath to the next generation a nation that can compete favourably in the comity of nations and imbue our next generation with pride and patriotism.
She said, “The massive investment and the aggressive prosecution of this agenda  in this regard have seen the aviation sector being transformed. Today,  22 airports owned by the Federal Government are at various stages of becoming decent and world class terminals.
”Nigeria’s airspace has become one of the safest in the world with the deployment of modern navigational equipments and infrastructures. The oversight capacity of the whole sector has been strengthened with the relevant regulations  in place and the training and retraining of personnel.”
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/56997.html

I’ll Vote For Oshiomhole As President — Governor Fashola

I’ll Vote For Oshiomhole As President — Governor Fashola
The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, on Saturday, said he would vote for his Edo State counterpart, Adams Oshiomhole, if he decides to run for the Presidency.
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Speaking in Benin City at a youth summit organised by the Edo State Government, with the theme, ‘Nigeria’s centenary: Defining the issues and setting agenda for the future of our youths,’ Fashola said, “If Governor Adams Oshiomhole decides to run as President of this country, he will have my vote. He is the kind of leader that Nigeria needs. I say that because, I have spent five memorable years of my life in Benin City as an undergraduate and as a youth corps member and they are very fond memories that I hold dear in my heart today.
“I am always looking forward to coming here each time I am invited. The excitement to come here is at an all time high. Since my brother assumed office as your governor,  Benin City has not remained the same. It has changed positively and continues to change.
“On my way here, I drove past my former office on Sapele Road and clearly the place has been transformed. And the Airport Road is now wider. I know what Ring Road used to be like and Akpakpava Road. It is nice to know that tourism is back, flights are regular and you have done it because you have allowed yourselves to be led by a man who can inspire you to act. And I don’t think anybody can claim the credit for what has happened here if not the people of Edo State.”
In his remarks, Governor Adams Oshiomhole appealed to the youths not to give up on the nation, stating that the future of the country was in their hands.
Oshiomhole argued that every nation had its history and that Nigeria has come to stay.
He said, “As a people, what we should think about is how we can get our people properly managed such that the wealth of this great country is expressed in the quality of life of the citizen. How do we address the paradox of a nation so rich and yet its people are getting poorer?
“How do we raise the issue of how the promise of democracy can be fully realised, if the Federal Government continues to pocket 52 per cent and asks the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to share 26 per cent and the rest is shared by 774 local government areas.
“I do not think it is helpful for us to question whether Nigeria is a reality. So, I ask you as young people to recognise that every country has its share of problems and none of those problems can be resolved because the people have perfected the act of lamentation.”
READ MORE: http://news.naij.com/56995.html

Tukur Was Brutal — Northern Elders

The Northern Elders Forum has hailed the resignation of the former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bamanga Tukur.
It also insisted that President Goodluck Jonathan has to abide by the one-term pact he allegedly signed with some northern governors in order to end the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the 2015 elections.
The Deputy Chairman of NEF, Dr. Paul Unongo, told SUNDAY PUNCH that it’s only the President’s declaration not to contest the 2015 presidential election that would douse the political tension in the country.
Unongo, who is a pioneer member of the PDP, said if the party went ahead to field Jonathan, it would lose the 2015 presidential election.
He said the resignation of Tukur as National Chairman of PDP was a welcome development that should have come earlier to prevent defection of prominent members of the party.
He said, “I think if the PDP had done this (forced Tukur to resign) a long time ago, it would have perhaps stemmed the avalanche (of crises) that happened. Tukur represented the ugliest face of the PDP. He was insensitive; he was not caring; he was brutal.
He already decided that Mr. Jonathan must be the presidential candidate of the PDP in 2015 and anybody who didn’t like that should go to hell. It is wonderful that after a long time, the PDP realised what some of us told them. We had told them that you don’t take Nigerians for granted, thinking you can do whatever you want.
“I hope that for the sake of the PDP, now that they have finished with the issue of Tukur, they will deal with the issue of Mr. President by deciding that he should not stand for election, so that the gentleman agreement between the North and the South will prevail. The one-term has been the main cause of the crisis in the PDP.”
Unongo said the crisis in the PDP, which has heated up the polity, has been a tussle between those who think Jonathan should not contest in 2015, and those encouraging him to contest.
“It’s been between the people, who have been insisting on the President respecting the one-term pact and those who have been using him, and are telling him to go ahead and stand for election; that nothing will happen.
“You have young governors telling him, ‘nothing will happen; the Middle-Belt is with you’. The only thing that can save PDP now is for Mr. President to state categorically that he will not contest election in 2015. Otherwise the defections will continue and the PDP will lose the election if it fields Jonathan,” he said.
Unongo advised Jonathan to listen to the “majority” and shelve his plan to contest again.

Tukur Was Brutal — Northern Elders

The Northern Elders Forum has hailed the resignation of the former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Bamanga Tukur.
It also insisted that President Goodluck Jonathan has to abide by the one-term pact he allegedly signed with some northern governors in order to end the crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the 2015 elections.
The Deputy Chairman of NEF, Dr. Paul Unongo, told SUNDAY PUNCH that it’s only the President’s declaration not to contest the 2015 presidential election that would douse the political tension in the country.
Unongo, who is a pioneer member of the PDP, said if the party went ahead to field Jonathan, it would lose the 2015 presidential election.
He said the resignation of Tukur as National Chairman of PDP was a welcome development that should have come earlier to prevent defection of prominent members of the party.
He said, “I think if the PDP had done this (forced Tukur to resign) a long time ago, it would have perhaps stemmed the avalanche (of crises) that happened. Tukur represented the ugliest face of the PDP. He was insensitive; he was not caring; he was brutal.
He already decided that Mr. Jonathan must be the presidential candidate of the PDP in 2015 and anybody who didn’t like that should go to hell. It is wonderful that after a long time, the PDP realised what some of us told them. We had told them that you don’t take Nigerians for granted, thinking you can do whatever you want.
“I hope that for the sake of the PDP, now that they have finished with the issue of Tukur, they will deal with the issue of Mr. President by deciding that he should not stand for election, so that the gentleman agreement between the North and the South will prevail. The one-term has been the main cause of the crisis in the PDP.”
Unongo said the crisis in the PDP, which has heated up the polity, has been a tussle between those who think Jonathan should not contest in 2015, and those encouraging him to contest.
“It’s been between the people, who have been insisting on the President respecting the one-term pact and those who have been using him, and are telling him to go ahead and stand for election; that nothing will happen.
“You have young governors telling him, ‘nothing will happen; the Middle-Belt is with you’. The only thing that can save PDP now is for Mr. President to state categorically that he will not contest election in 2015. Otherwise the defections will continue and the PDP will lose the election if it fields Jonathan,” he said.
Unongo advised Jonathan to listen to the “majority” and shelve his plan to contest again.

Obasanjo Sends Jonathan, PDP Documents On Buruji Kashamu’s Drug Case

In a bid to nail his estranged political associate, Buruju Kashamu, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has sent six incriminating documents to President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to support his claim that Mr. Kashamu is wanted in the United States of America over a drug related offence.
The damning documents, obtained by reporters, include court papers and proceedings as well as local and international newspaper clips on the allegation made against Mr. Kashamu, a chieftain of the PDP in the South West geo-political zone where the former president hails from.
Mr. Obasanjo had in a letter dated January 7 to the immediate past National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bamanga Tukur, and Mr. Jonathan, threatened to withdraw his participation in the activities of the party at all levels if it not did stop treating Mr. Kashamu with reverence.
In the three-paragraph letter, the former president said on no account should Mr. Kashamu, who he described as a known habitual criminal wanted abroad for crime, be extolled as a political leader in a respectable and wholesome nation-building political party. He said the way Mr. Kashamu was being extolled by PDP was unsavoury, insisting that politics played by any national political party must have morality, decency, discipline, principles and leadership examples as cardinal principles.buruji-kashamu “Since I stick in my practice of party politics to the hallowed and cherished principles enunciated above, I take this opportunity to let you know that while I continue to remain a card-carrying member of PDP,” Mr. Obasanjo said.
“I cannot and I will not subscribe to a wanted habitual criminal being installed as my zonal leader in the party; a criminal for whom extradition has been requested by the US Government. “I will consider withdrawing my activity with PDP at Local, State, Zonal and national levels until the anomalous and shameful situation is corrected.” The former president sent a copy of the one-page letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, who he addressed as the National Leader of the PDP.
Mr. Kashamu has since fired back alleging that Mr. Obasanjo was crying foul because he had lost relevance in the PDP. He detailed his relationship with the former president, including how he used to enter Mr. Obasanjo’s bedroom and how he donated huge sums of money to the church and other projects the former president embarked upon. In his reply to Mr. Obasanjo, the former PDP chairman explained how Mr. Kashamu assisted the party financially and became a rallying point of its members in the South-West zone.
Short of begging Mr. Obasanjo not to quit the PDP, Mr. Tukur said the former president still had more roles to play in the party and urged him and other leaders from the zone to build a strong consensus for that purpose. Mr. Jonathan, on his part reportedly spoke with the former president on telephone. PREMIUM TIMES has now obtained a copy of a bunch of documents Mr. Obasanjo sent along with his January 7 letter to Messrs Tukur and Jonathan.
The documents were marked serially and packaged to convince the president and the party that Mr. Kashamu is a wanted man with which a serious political party should have no dealings. One of the documents, a clip of the Chicago Tribune newspaper edition of November 14, 2013, marked No 1 by Mr. Obasanjo quoted the U.S attorney’s office as saying Mr. Kashamu “is still wanted on charges alleging his drug ring moved millions of dollars worth of heroin from Europe and Southeast Asia through O’Hare International Airport during the 1990s.”
The article authored by David Heinzmann also said that while Mr. Kashamu’s lawyer was trying to clear the politician’s name in Chicago, he had “become a player in Nigeria’s chaotic politics.” It added, “He runs a faction of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party near the capital, Lagos, and is frequently quoted criticizing other politicians in the West African country. Recently, newspapers there have reported that the Nigerian courts are reconsidering whether to extradite Kashamu to the US.”
Another clip of a Nigerian newspaper, Vanguard, which the former president submitted reported in its edition of November 27, 2009, that at a time when the United Nations Office on Drugs and Corruption was expressing deep concern about illicit drug trafficking in West Africa, the U.S. Government and a Chicago Court had linked and traced an alleged drug smuggling kingpin to Nigeria and declared him a fugitive, although the alleged kingpin was believed to be a citizen of neighbouring Benin Republic.
The report, “US Government traces wanted drug kingpin, Kashamu to Nigeria, said in paragraph 2, “According to Empowered Newswire Nigeria, a name came up in a recent court ruling by Judge Charles Norgie of the US District Court in Chicago, who upheld the indictment of a Beninoise multi-millionaire, Mr. Buruji Kashamu by the U.S. Government for drug smuggling charges and heroin importation conspiracy for which some of his co-conspirators have been jailed and served prison terms already.”
It said in another paragraph that, “Mr. Buruji Kashamu has since been indicted twice in the U.S., according to court papers. Two weeks ago, Buruji, whose residency in Nigeria was said to have been established by the U.S. government, according to court papers, is frantically fighting the charges asking the court to reconsider its recent decision to uphold the charges and reject his motion to quash a bench warrant for his arrest.”
Another report in ThisDay Newspaper’s edition of July 8, 2013, titled “Appeal Court vacates injunction against Kashamu,” which Mr. Obasanjo also sent to Messrs Tukur and Jonathan, said “A three-man panel of justices at the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal has set aside an order of perpetual injunction granted in favour of a chieftain of the Ogun State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Buruji Kashamu.”
Mr. Obasanjo also sent in an 18-page summon from the U.S. Court of Appeals Court for the Seventh Circuit. In the court paper, the US is listed as Plaintiff Appellee and Mr. Kashamu, the Defendant Appellant. Suit No. 10-2782 has the title “Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Division No. 1:94-cr-00172-15-Charles Norgie, Sr., Judge; Argued May 3, 2013 – Decided September 1, 2013.”
The paper filed before Posner Kanne and Tinder, Circuit Judge said, “This appeal requires us to consider the collateral estoppel effect, if any, of findings made by foreign courts in extradition proceedings. Back in May 1998 defendant Kashamu returned by a federal grand jury in Chicago with conspiracy to import and distribute heroin in violation of 21 U.S.C S963.
He was indicted both in his own name and under what the government believed to be two aliases that he used “Alaji” and “Kasmal”. “But he could not be found. He had not been arrested; he did not jump bail; his whereabouts simply were unknown. The government did not ask that he be tried in absentia. The case proceeded against the other defendants (except for one who like Kashamu could not be found) and all of them were convicted.”
The court paper also said, “In December 1998, Kashamu surfaced in England and was arrested as our government’s Justice Department lawyers, working with their English counterparts, sought his extradition to the United States to stand trial. In February 2009, the papers said, Mr. Kashamu filed a motion in the district court in Chicago to dismiss the indictment against him on the ground that the English magistrate had found that he was not “Alaji” and that the finding should be given collateral estoppel effect in the criminal proceeding and that if this was done he could not be convicted and therefore shouldn’t have to stand trial.
The district judge denied the motion, precipitating this appeal.” In another document “Letters Blogatory: The Blog of International Judicial Assistance by Ted Folkman of Murphy and King, which Mr. Obasanjo marked No. 6, and titled Case of the Day: US V. Kashamu November 1, 2011, Mr. Kashamu was said to have been indicted by a grand jury in Illinois in 1998 for conspiracy to import and distribute heroin. The 10-page document opens thus: “Buruji Kashamu, a Nigerian national, was indicted by a grand jury in the Northern District of Illinois in 1998 for conspiracy to import and distribute heroin. The indictment named him under his own name and under two supposed aliases “Alaji” and “Kasmak.” Kashamu’s whereabouts were unknown.
His co-defendants were tried and convicted. Later in 1998, the government found Kashamu living in England, and the government there arrested him at the request of the US. The Justice Department sought his extradition. The extradition proceedings were “incredibly protracted,” lasting until 2003.
The English judge refused to extradite him. Kashamu left England and is believed to have returned to Nigeria.” The document shows that a metropolitan magistrate once ordered him held pending extradition, though Mr. Kashamu applied for writ of habeas corpus. It also states that the South West politician once sought dismissal of the indictment.
It says, “Kashamu, who must have felt he had not had enough transnational litigation for his liking, moved to dismiss the indictment after his return to Nigeria on the grounds that the English judge, in refusing to extradite him, had found that he was not “Alaji” and that the English judge’s finding of fact should have conclusive effect. Judge Norgie, the presiding judge in Chicago, denied the motion and Kashamu appealed.”

Source: Premium Times

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Most Of Us Joined Politics For Lack Of Work- President Jonathan

Most Of Us Joined Politics For Lack Of Work- President Jonathan
President Goodluck Jonathan said on Sunday that about half of Nigerian politicians were not meant to be in politics, but only turned politicians as they had no choice.
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The president was speaking at the Aso Rock Villa Chapel, in response to a sermon by the Primate of the Anglican Church, Nicholas Okoh, during the post-pilgrimage thanksgiving tagged “What Shall I Render To God.”
The clergy in his sermon accused politicians of being unforgiving.
Mr. Jonathan, in his remarks noted that this was however not the case as politicians were ordinarily very forgiving as they may later find themselves working together with people who had earlier wronged them.
“The chaplain accused us politicians that we do not forgive, or that some politicians don’t forgive. Apparently the Bible said this, but politicians are the people who forgive,” the president said.
“Politicians are those who forgive because in politics, whether local politics or national, you don’t have permanent friends or permanent enemies but permanent interests.
“If somebody is your enemy today and there is a change of interest and A becomes your friend, first of all, you have to forgive otherwise you cannot have a friend that you cannot work with.
“But politics is just like some kind of trade. More than 50 per cent of us who are into politics are not supposed to be politicians.
“For example, in the profession of nursing and teaching, people with wicked hearts and unforgiving spirit are not the kind of people who should be nurses or teachers, but we find them there.
“So, most of us who are in politics are not supposed to be there but because we have no other thing to do. So, if you see a politician than cannot forgive, he is an impostor,” the president said.
The clergy had also during his sermon commended the president for doing the right thing by signing the anti-gay bill into law despite the obvious pressure from “outside.”
The anti-gay law prescribes various punishments as well jail term for homosexual acts. It has been widely criticized by western countries but many Nigerians support the law.
Urging Christians to partake in the annual pilgrimage, Archbishop Okoh noted that Nigeria was also on a pilgrimage to reach its place in the League of Nations where it is supposed to be.
To reach its purpose, the Primate said Nigeria needs amongst others: Patience, Perseverance, Cohesion, Discipline and focus.
On the centenary, he noted that as the country celebrates its centenary it is a time for all Nigerians to examine their personal contribution to the nation in the last 100 years.
On the national dialogue, Archbishop Okoh noted that this was a divine gift and opportunity to fine-tune the polity. He also urged all those who will partake, to do so “not for selfish reasons but to speak for their people.”
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