Irene: Death toll reaches 40 as recovery begin

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Post-Tropical Cyclone Irene has killed 40 people in the US, and authorities warn that flooding could continue for up to three days in northern US states.

More than five million people remain without power, while Vermont is reeling from its worst floods in many decades.

Insurance claims could top $7bn (£4.3bn), the Consumer Federation of America estimated.

Irene has passed into Canada, after causing havoc on the US east coast from North Carolina to Vermont.

Driving rains and flood tides damaged homes and cut power to more than three million people in New Jersey, Connecticut and New York alone.

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Osun approves N19,001 as minimum wage

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The Osun State Government, yesterday, surprised its workers by approving N19, 001 for the least paid worker in the state.

The contentious National Minimum Wage Act provides for N18;000 minimum.

A statement by the state’s Director, Bureau of Communications & Strategy, Semiu Okanlawon, said the implementation of the new wage had taken effect with the government executing the Minimum Wage Law for workers on Levels 01 to 07.

The N19,001 minimum wage exceeds the N18,000 minimum wage prescribed by the Minimum Wage Law recently enacted by the Federal Government which makes Osun State one of the highest paying of the 36 states.

Okanlawon also said the government at the negotiation table also approved substantial raise in the salaries of other grade levels.

He said the government approved additional N7,429,50 for workers from Levels 8 to 10; N6,611 for workers on Levels 12 to 14 while N5,096.40 had been added to salaries of workers on Levels 15 to 17.

In the statement, the government reassured the workers’ representatives that government was poised to ensure that workers in the state emerge the best paid throughout the country.

The government promised to review salaries as soon as the Internally Generated Revenue of the State improves.

The government also reminded workers of the plan to set up the Salaries and Wages Commission which will fix salaries and wages of workers according to the increase in the financial fortunes of the state.

Osun State has workforce of less than 45,000 of which 21,000 are civil servants and about 20,000 special employees under the state’s employment generation scheme, OYEES.

Sources also put the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, at close to N300 million a month.
Source:Vanguardngr
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Gaddafi 'ready to negotiate' with rebels

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Moussa Ibrahim, Muammar Gaddafi's spokesman, has reportedly told the Associated Press news agency that the toppled Libyan leader is ready to negotiate with the rebels to form a transitional government.

Ibrahim called AP headquarters in New York late on Saturday, and told them he was calling from Tripoli, the Libyan capital, and that Gaddafi was still in Libya.

Ibrahim said Gaddafi had appointed one of his sons, al-Saadi, to head the negotiations with the rebel forces, according to AP who said it identified Ibrahim from his voice.

Ibrahim has been the most public face of the Gaddafi government in recent weeks, regularly addressing television cameras and journalists in Tripoli.

The phone call appears to represent a change of policy by Gaddafi who last week referred to the rebels as "thugs" and "rats" and urged loyalists to continue fighting even as his opponents seized control of Tripoli.

Gaddafi's whereabouts remains unknown and rebels have offered a reward for his capture or killing.

Al Jazeera's correspondent James Bays reporting from Tripoli said: "the hunt for him [Gaddafi] goes on and one of the places that is still in the hands of Gaddafi forces is his hometown of Sirte."

Sirte is considered the last remaining bastion of support for the man whose decades-long rule of Libya is effectively over, with the rebel National Transitional Council (NTC) now widely recognised as the country's legitimate government.
On Saturday the Arab League became the latest international body to recognise the NTC as it turned over the country's seat in the regional bloc to the rebel leadership.

Rebel claimed victory in Bin Jawad late on Saturday, advancing in their push towards Sirte.

Reporting from the city, Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland said: "If, in fact, it is proven that the rebels are able to hold the town of Bin Jawad, then certainly they will have removed a major obstacle on the way to Sirte."
Mustafa Abdel Jalil, chairman of the NTC, said at a news conference on Saturday that rebel commanders were negotiating with Gaddafi loyalists in Bin Jawad to try to persuade them to surrender control over the city.

Vital supply route

Elsewhere, Libyan rebels have defeated Gaddafi loyalists in skirmishes over a key border checkpoint with Tunisia, opening up a vital supply route into the war-ravaged country.

Gaining control of the Ras Ajdir crossing allows rebels to channel fresh supplies and aid to Tripoli, amid fears of a developing humanitarian crisis in the capital and elsewhere.

Al Jazeera's Sue Turton, reporting from Tripoli on Saturday, said the capture was an "incredibly important" gain for the rebels.
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Hurricane Irene shuts down New York

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A panorama of New York's skyline taken as Hurricane Irene
approaches
Hurricane Irene has begun pounding New York with fierce winds and torrential rain after killing at least nine people as it made its way up the east coast of the United States.

Hurricane Irene battered New York with ferocious winds and driving rain on Sunday, shutting down the U.S. financial capital and most populous city, halting mass transit and causing massive power blackouts as it churned slowly northward along the eastern seaboard.

New York City's normally bustling streets were eerily quiet after authorities ordered tens of thousands of residents to evacuate low-lying areas and shut down its subways, airports and buses.


Those who had to travel were left trying to flag down yellow taxis that patrolled largely deserted streets.

Irene, still a menacing 480-mile (780-km)-wide hurricane, was enveloping major towns and cities in the northeast, hugging the Atlantic coast and threatening dangerous floods and surging tides.

From the Carolinas to Maine, tens of millions of people were in the path of Irene, which howled ashore in North Carolina at daybreak on Saturday, dumping torrential rain, felling trees and knocking out power.

"The edge of the hurricane has finally got upon us," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told the more than eight million people who live in New York as he warned that tropical storm-force winds would hit the city.

Times Square, often called the crossroads of the world, was sparsely populated, mostly with visitors, as Irene rolled into the city with full force.

Broadway shows were canceled, coffee was hard to come by with Starbucks stores closed and burgers and fries were in short supply as McDonald's outlets were shut.

"We just came to see how few people are in Times Square and then we're going back," said Cheryl Gibson, who was vacationing in the city.

Bloomberg warned New Yorkers Irene was a life-threatening storm and urged them to stay indoors to avoid flying debris, flooding or the risk of being electrocuted by downed power lines. "It is dangerous out there," he said, but added later:

"New York is the greatest city in the world and we will weather this storm."

Some 370,000 city residents were ordered to leave their homes in low-lying areas, many of them in parts of the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan.

Many were unwilling to go. Nicholas Vigliotti, 24, an auditor who lives in a high-rise building along the Brooklyn waterfront, said he saw no point. "Even if there was a flood, I live on the fifth floor," he said.

Storm surge fears

Flood waters forced officials in Hoboken, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, to evacuate a storm shelter, the mayor of Hoboken, Dawn Zimmer, said on Twitter.

"Hoboken faces worst case scenario. Flooding has begun. Moving Wallace Shelter residents to state shelter in east Rutherford," the mayor's tweet said.
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Rebels in Libya are killing black Africans

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The rebels in Libya are killing any one who have black skin and they tell the world that they are killing Gaddafi Mercenaries.

One Turkish construction worker told the BBC: "We had 70-80 people from Chad working for our company. They were cut dead with pruning shears and axes, attackers saying: 'You are providing troops for Gaddafi.' The Sudanese were also massacred. We saw it for ourselves."

One man was seen shouting on Sky TV yesterday "I am a Nigerian immigrant stranded in Libya, help me!”

South Africa has already started evacuating its people, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan should do the same oh. There are hundreds of thousands of Nigerians in that country, only God knows how many have been executed.

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Nigerian Spam Email Con-men Jailed In UK

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Julius Oweka
Joshua Obasuyi
Two fraudsters who convinced a pensioner she had won a £5.7m lottery jackpot before conning her out of her life-savings were jailed for a total of 50 months today.
Joshua Obasuyi, 49, and Julius Oweka, 48, were part of a Nigerian gang who tricked U.S. Professor Marie Lowery, 80, a retired lecturer at the University of Houston, Texas, into handing over £245,000.

She was strung along by the London-based conmen for nearly four years, after responding to a spam e-mail that told her she had won the jackpot in a prize draw.

Obasuyi and Oweka were caught in May 2009 in police sting operation following a tip-off from the FBI.

Detectives found more than £66,000 duped from 'lottery winners' around the world had been paid into a bank account at the Nat West in Grays, Ess*x,
Judge Rosamund Horwood-Smart QC jailed Obasuyi for 30 months and Oweka for 20 months at the Old Bailey, telling them that they were obviously 'well-versed in this type of scam'.

She said.'You were both involved in fraudulent activities with others, and there is evidence of more than one victim,'

'In view of Prof Lowery, who was of course vulnerable, she was taken advantage of over many years - remorselessly and without mercy.

'This type of fraud takes advantage of the hopes, dreams and gullibility of others, and is very common and very harmful to our society.'

The court heard that in April 2005, Prof Lowery received an e-mail claiming to be from the fictitious 'Great British Lottery', in which she was congratulated for winning a £5.7m jackpot.
She initially agreed to pay £180 to process her winnings, and later complied with a string of demands for greater sums to be transferred via Western Union.

Throughout the scam, she was presented with bogus certificates and court documents in an effort to convince her that the arrangement was legitimate.

In November 2008, Prof Lowery was e-mailed by a man calling himself Chris Ascuncion, who told her he was a 'claims attorney' acting on behalf of the lottery company and asked for even more money to be transferred.

After beginning to suspect that she was being defrauded, she passed the e-mail on to the FBI - who immediately recognised the scammers' methods.
She arranged with the gang to fly to London and hand over the latest payment, £,3,996 in person.
Detectives from the City of London police then tapped her phone as she spoke with Obasuyi and agreeing to meet at the Crown Plaza Hotel, near Blackfriars Bridge, central London, on May 20, 2009.
Officers pounced at the meeting and were led to Oweka through his contact with Obasuyi
They later raided the gang's office in Croydon, south London, where they found a treasure trove of kit used to carry out the frauds - including a locked briefcase containing bundles of paper with a thin layer of real US dollars on top.
Anthony Wilcken, prosecuting, said computer evidence found at the unit showed they had targeted 'hundreds' of other people, whose telephone numbers and computer passwords were recorded.

'This was undoubtedly part of the fraudster's kit,' he said.
'The documents relating to frauds of that sort were manifest and numerous.'
None of the money Prof Lowery passed on has been recovered.

Obasuyi, from Plaistow, east London, admitted conspiracy to defraud, and two counts of acquiring criminal property.
Oweka, from Croydon, south London, denied conspiracy to defraud, two counts of acquiring criminal property and possessing an article for use in fraud, but was found guilty on all charges following a trial.
Source:Dailymail
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At least 18 dead in ‘suicide blast’ at UN in Abuja

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A suicide blast that rocked the UN building in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Friday has killed at least 18 people and wounded eight others, a police commissioner said as rescue operations continued.

“So far, we have 18 dead and eight injured,” local police commissioner Mike Zuokumor told journalists.

“It was a Honda Accord car. The suicide bomber died immediately as the bomb cut him into three. I cannot say how many people are still in the building. The rescue operation is still on.”

An eye witness told NAN that the blasts which occurred around 10.am, ripped through the five-storey building housing about 300 members of staff, drawn from all arms of the UN System.
Another account attributed it to a suicide bomber who drove in a truck through the exit gate.

NAN reports that scores of blast victims were evacuated to the National Hospital, about half a kilometre away, where doctors battled to save their lives.

At the Garki Hospital, hospital sources said that two corpses were brought in, while the third victim brought in alive died moments later.

The central business district where the building is situated, is also home to many foreign diplomatic missions, NAN reports.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, while the number of casualties has yet to be determined.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Interior, Abba Morro told reporters at the scene that it was too early to determine the damage and the number of casualties.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof. Viola Onwuliri described it as an attack on the international community, saying that the situation was under investigation.

The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu expressed shock, saying it was a cause for concern for Nigeria.

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UN House Bombing: Boko Haram claims responsibility

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Islamist extremist group, Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the UN bombing in Abuja. A caller told the BBC on phone that it carried out the attack.

Also, another Boko Haram ‘spokesman’ claiming responsibility for the deadly attack said, they were guided by the wisdom of Allah.

“Through the wisdom of Allah, we have launched the attack with absolute precision,” the man who identified himself as Abu Darda said in a telephone call to an AFP journalist.

“The attack was carefully scripted and executed. We have said it several times that the UN is one of our prime targets.”

The veracity of his claim could not be verified.”We will provide details of the martyr who carried out the suicide attack,” the man said.

“More attacks are on the way, and by the will of Allah we will have unfettered access to wherever we want to attack. We have more than 100 men who are willing to lay down their lives for the cause of Allah.”

The blast at about 11 a.m. left a gaping hole in the compound, which houses about 400 people working for 26 U.N. humanitarian and development agencies. It’s not clear how many were present, but dozens were injured.

This marks the first attack on the U.N. by militants in Nigeria. Past attacks by Boko Haram, a group that models itself on the Afghan Taliban, have been launched on national government targets, mainly in the north. The largest previous bombing, of the police headquarters in Abuja in June, killed six.
source:vanguardngr

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Eid-el-Fitri: FG declares next Tuesday, Wednesday public holidays

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The Federal Government yesterday declared Tuesday, 30th and Wednesday, 31st August, 2011, public holidays to commemorate the 2011 Eid-el-Fitri celebration.

Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, who made this declaration, also urged Muslim faithful to pray for enduring peace and progress of the country.

In the statement signed by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mr S.B Ozigis, the Minister further wished all Nigerians a pleasant and blissful Eid-El-Fitri celebration.

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Gaddafi flees Tripoli HQ ransacked by rebels-vows to fight on to death or victory

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A beleaguered Muammar Gaddafi vowed on Wednesday to fight on to death or victory after jubilant rebels forced him to abandon his Tripoli stronghold in an apparently decisive blow against the Libyan leader's 42-year rule.

Rebels ransacked Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya bastion, seizing arms and smashing symbols of a ruler whose fall will transform Libya and rattle other Arab autocrats facing popular uprisings.

Gaddafi said the withdrawal from his headquarters in the heart of the capital was a tactical move after it had been hit by 64 NATO air strikes and he vowed "martyrdom" or victory in his six-month war against the Western alliance and Libyan foes.

Urging Libyans to cleanse the streets of traitors, he said he had secretly toured Tripoli.

"I have been out a bit in Tripoli discreetly, without being seen by people, and ... I did not feel that Tripoli was in danger," Gaddafi told loyalist media outlets.

His whereabouts after leaving the compound, perhaps via a tunnel network to adjoining districts, remain unknown, although he appears to have been in Tripoli, at least until recently.

Rebels said fighting was still going on near the Rixos hotel, where armed Gaddafi loyalists have prevented foreign journalists from leaving, and in eastern areas of the city.

A Reuters reporter near the hotel around midday (11 a.m. British time) on Wednesday heard rifle fire and heavy anti-aircraft guns, which have been used by both sides against ground targets.

Earlier in the morning, a Reuters reporter inside the hotel, Missy Ryan, said food and water were running low. Pro-Gaddafi gunmen who had patrolled the hotel compound were no longer in sight, she said, but it was not clear if they had withdrawn.

Residents remained fearful, with empty streets, shuttered shops and piles of garbage testifying that life is still far from normal in the city of 2 million. Rebels manned checkpoints along the main thoroughfare into the city from the west.

People were defacing or erasing Gaddafi portraits and other symbols in a city where they were once ubiquitous. They painted over street names and renamed them for rebel fighters who had become "martyrs". Plaques were torn off government offices.

"There are some fights going but hopefully today everything will be over," one rebel fighter said.

Fighting was reported on Tuesday night in a southern desert city, Sabha, that rebels forecast would be Gaddafi loyalists' last redoubt. Pro-Gaddafi forces were shelling the towns of Zuara and Ajelat, west of Tripoli, Al-Arabiya TV said.

Omar al-Ghirani, a rebel spokesman, said loyalist forces had fired seven Grad missiles at residential areas of the capital, causing people to flee their homes in panic.

He told Reuters Gaddafi troops had also fired mortar rounds in the area of the Tripoli airport.

"VOLCANO OF LAVA"

The continued shooting suggested the six-month popular insurgency against Gaddafi, a maverick Arab nationalist who defied the West and kept an iron hand on his oil-exporting, country for four decades, has not completely triumphed yet.

A spokesman for Gaddafi said the Libyan leader was ready to resist the rebels for months, or even years.

"We will turn Libya into a volcano of lava and fire under the feet of the invaders and their treacherous agents," Moussa Ibrahim said, speaking by telephone to pro-Gaddafi channels.

Rebel leaders would not enjoy peace if they carried out their plans to move to Tripoli from their headquarters in the eastern city of Benghazi, he said.

But Gaddafi was already history in the eyes of the rebels and their political leaders planned high-level talks in Qatar on Wednesday with envoys of the United States, Britain, France, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates on the way ahead.

Another meeting was scheduled for Thursday in Istanbul.

China urged a "stable transition of power" in Libya and said on Wednesday it was in contact with the rebel council, the clearest sign yet that Beijing has effectively shifted recognition to forces poised to defeat Gaddafi.

China "respects the choice of the Libyan people", Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in a statement.

A senior representative for reconstruction in the rebel movement said a new government would honour all the oil contracts granted during the Gaddafi era, including those of Chinese companies. "The contracts in the oil fields are absolutely sacrosanct," Ahmed Jehani told Reuters Insider TV.

"All lawful contracts will be honoured whether they are in the oil and gas complex or in the contracting... We have contracts that were negotiated ... they were auctioned openly ... There's no question of revoking any contract."

A spokesman for rebel-run oil firm AGOCO had warned on Monday Chinese and Russian firms could lose out on oil contracts for failing to back the rebellion.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev urged Gaddafi and his foes to stop fighting and talk. "We want the Libyans to come to an agreement among themselves," he said, suggesting that Moscow could recognise the rebel government if it unites the country.

China and Russia, usually opposed to foreign intervention in sovereign states, did not veto a U.N. Security Council resolution in March that authorised NATO to use air power to protect Libyan civilians. But they criticised the scale of the air campaign and called for a negotiated solution.

The victors are in no mood for dialogue with Gaddafi.

"It's over! Gaddafi is finished!" yelled a fighter over a din of celebratory gunfire across the Bab al-Aziziya compound, Gaddafi's sprawling citadel of power in the Libyan capital.

KEEP REVOLUTION CLEAN, REBEL LEADER SAYS

The hunt to find Gaddafi is now on. Colonel Ahmed Bani, a rebel, told Al-Arabiya TV he was probably holed up somewhere in Tripoli. "It will take a long time to find him," he said.

Some reckon the eight months it took to track down Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003 helped foster the insurgency there.

Rebel National Council chief Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, who was until February a loyal minister of Gaddafi, cautioned: "It is too early to say that the battle of Tripoli is over. That won't happen until Gaddafi and his sons are captured."

In an interview with Italy's La Repubblica, he promised parliamentary and presidential elections in eight months' time.

"If I were to be nominated president, it would only be a temporary appointment and I would remain in that position only until the next elections, which would be the first free elections in our country," Abdel-Jalil said.

He said the council favoured trying Gaddafi and his family in Libya rather than sending him to The Hague, where he and two others have been indicted by the International Criminal Court.

Mahmoud Jibril, head of the rebel government, also promised a transition towards democracy for Libyans. "The whole world is looking at Libya," he said, warning against summary justice.

"We must not sully the final page of the revolution."
Source:Reuters

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Rebels capture Gaddafi’s compound in Tripoli

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Rebel fighters captured Muoamer Gaddafi’s heavily defended Bab al-Aziziya compound and headquarters in Tripoli on Tuesday after a day of heavy fighting, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

The defenders had fled, and there was no immediate word on the whereabouts of Gaddafi or his family after the insurgents breached the defences as part of a massive assault that began in the morning.

“Rebels breached the surrounding cement walls and entered inside. They have taken Bab al-Azizya. Completely. It is finished,” the correspondent said.

“It is an incredible sight.”

Only minutes earlier, rebel spokesman Colonel Ahmed Omar Bani said from Benghazi: “Our forces are surrounding Bab al-Azizya. There is a fierce battle going on there. We are now controlling one of the gates, the western entrance.”

In the hours that led up to the storming of the compound in central Tripoli, the sound of the fighting was the most intense heard in the city since rebels arrived three days ago.

The sky was filled with the sound of heavy and light machine guns as well as mortars, with the overhead roar of NATO jets that had been carrying intensive overflights though it was unclear if there were any air strikes.

Even two kilometres (about a mile) from the fighting, the almost constant whistle of falling bullets could be hear from the rooftops, as the city’s mosques chanted “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest).
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Mikel Obi expressed gratitude over father's rescue in Kano

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The father of Chelsea and Nigeria star John Mikel Obi was Monday found alive in Kano State. Michael Obi was last seen on 12 August in the city of Jos, where his car was found last Wednesday.

Obi Senior told the BBC that he had been kidnapped in Jos before being transferred to Kano.

“I am very stressed,” he said.

His abductors are now in police custody in the northern Nigerian city.
The BBC’s Yusuf Ibrahim Yakasai says Michael Obi’s face shows signs of the beatings that he says he endured during his ordeal.

During the time of his father’s disappearance, Mikel Obi continued playing for Chelsea – starting matches against both Stoke City and West Bromwich Albion.

“I wouldn’t want to let the club down and if I didn’t play that game I think my mum would be very sad,” the 24-year-old said after playing against Stoke.

On Friday, Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas hailed the “amazing mental toughness” shown by the midfielder in the wake of his father’s kidnapping.
Police spokesman Olusola Amore told The Associated Press that detectives found Michael Obi in Kano. Amore said police arrested those suspected in the kidnapping.

Michael Obi was kidnapped on Aug. 12 while on his way home from work in the central Nigerian city of Jos.

Kidnappings for ransom regularly occur in Nigeria, though typically in its east and oil-rich southern delta.

Nigeria, an oil-rich country of 150 million people, is almost evenly split between Muslims in the north and the predominantly Christian south. Plateau state, in Nigeria’s fertile central belt, has seen thousands die in recent years in religious and ethnic violence rooted largely in political and economic issues.
Kidnappings in Plateau state are a rarity when compared to Nigeria’s oil-producing southern delta, where militants and criminal gangs often kidnap foreigners for ransom. Middle class Nigerian families also increasingly find themselves targeted in the country’s East as well.

It isn’t the first time a football player’s family has been targeted in Nigeria. In 2008, gunmen abducted the younger brother of Everton defender Joseph Yobo as he left a nightclub in Port Harcourt, the delta’s largest city.

The brother was released unharmed about two weeks later, though it was unclear if a ransom had been paid. Enyimba Chairman, Felix Anyansi-Agwu was equally kidnapped and released. Mother of former NFF President, Sani Lulu-Abdullahi was also kidnapped and released.

Michael Obi’s abduction came after a Forbes magazine survey in June listed Mikel as the seventh highest-paid African player in Europe. The magazine listed Mikel’s salary as $5.8 million a year.

Mikel thanks all!
Super Eagles midfielder, John Mikel Obi has spoken of his relief after hearing that his father, Michael Obi had been found in Kano.

And in a quick reaction to the cheery news from Nigeria, Mikel’s management company confirmed that the Chelsea man had contacted his family to share in the joy of their father’s release.

Mikel has also expressed his gratitude to everyone who supported his family during the trying times.

Earlier today(yesterday) Michael Obi called his family to advise them that he had been released by his abductors,” Sport Entertainment & Media Group (SEM) said in a statement.

“SEM have waited until now to release this information, to ensure that Michael was safe.

“John Obi Mikel would like to thank everyone in Nigeria, his family and friends, Chelsea FC and their fans and his agents for their total support during this terrible time.”

NFF rejoices

The Nigeria Football Federation Monday said the release of Mikel’s father came as a great relief to both the Obi family and the NFF.

In reaction to the news last night, chief media officer of the federation, Ademola Olajire said, “we are very very happy over this development. It is a sign of good things to come as we prepare for the crucial 2012 CAN qualifier against Madagascar.

It is good for the psyche of the boy and the entire team. We are happy,” Olajire said.
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Breaking News: Justice Salami sues Jonathan

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Justice Ayo Salami
Justice Ayo Salami the embattled President of the Apeal Court of Nigeria, who’s sack and replacement was approved by the President Goodluck Jonathan, has taken the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to court over the sack and replacement.

The suspended President of the Court of Appeal, prayed a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, to invoke its original jurisdiction and declare the appointment of an acting President of the Court of Appeal, by President Goodluck Jonathan, illegal and unconstitutional.

More details soon
Source:vanguardngr

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How Chinese firm sabotages power supply – FG

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The Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, and his Information counterpart, Mr Labaran Maku during the weekend were on inspection tour of power projects under the National Integrated Power Projects, NIPP and visited the N30 billion ($220 million) first phase of Olorunsogo power plant.

Vanguard gathered they were informed that the 304mgw installed capacity eight turbines power plant, built and commissioned five years ago had packed up, as six of the turbines have broken down, leaving only to function at about 60mgw capacity.

The ministers who toured the projects on behalf of the Presidential Steering Committee, headed by Vice President Namadi Sambo, were told by the Acting Chief Executive Officer, CEO of the station, Engr. Mohammed Almu, that the project which was awarded to a Chinese firm, SEPCO Electric Power Construction Corporation in 2002, was commissioned in May 2007. It functioned for barely three years before six of the eight turbines went off due to lack of spare parts and operating manuals in English language.

Besides, the inspection team was also told that every move and attempt by Nigerian engineers attached to the Chinese experts to acquire the requisite skills for the maintenance of the plants were usually frustrated by the foreigners, just as Nigerians at the plant could not lay hands on the agreement documents, to ascertain at what point their responsibilities begin and ended.

Although there were earlier plans to handover the plant to a Chinese firm as core investor with 65 per cent equity shareholding, especially given that the project was funded through loan from the Chinese government, the Minister who expressed disappointed at the situation on ground, said there would be fresh negotiation with the investors as President Goodluck Jonathan was not in power when the first talks held.

Shortly after the inspection, this discussion ensued between the CEO and the Minister, at a briefing session:

CEO: On the issue of spare parts, at the time of handing over of this project, they (Chinese) supposed to give us two years running spare parts but what they gave us were just small spare parts that is why we are having serious problem. And anytime we contact than, they will promise to bring the parts and up till now, they have not given us any. And any time we have a problem and we want to go with them, they will refuse to go with us and abandon the place.

Min: How many people from here that went to China for training and were they given the necessary documentation to operate the plant? Technically, who is operating the plant?

CEO: We are doing it together. But at any time we want to rub mind together, they will refuse. And some of them don’t even understand English, so its difficult.

Min: Do you have operating manuals in English?

CEO: No, we don’t have that.

Min: How many people were trained in China?

CEO: About twenty travelled. But two of them have been transferred.

Min: They (Chinese) actually built this plant on loans. They provided about 65 percent of the funds and Federal Government provided the balance to build this plant. So, you know what loan means you have to be paying. So, the consideration is whether the company that built this plant should simply take over since they have the document and they haven’t handed the document and that the document are not written in English. So, definitely we are going to resolve this problem in a way that it will be to the benefit of Nigerians.

The Minister said “at Egbin station where we were well briefed we got here (Olorunsogo) and we are scratching for information I don’t like it and we will do something about that because what we want is ability to ensure that things keep on going. It requires resourcefulness to get things done. How can we be in a situation where if the total amount of money needed here is nothing in comparison to just one problem the people in Egbin solved . It is a lot more than all of this put together. So, for sure,we are going to do something about it to solve these problems but on the technical side, we have to do something. That is why visiting these plants is very important”, he said.

Fielding questions from reporter, Nnaji disclosed that “I will say that in Olorunnsogo phase I, which is a federal government power plant we are quiet disappointed that there are eight units that should provide over 300 mw there and that of all those units only two are functioning. And what is required to actually get many of the units functioning is not just much and we are also going to look into the issue of the workers not being able to access manuals to operate the power plant. So these are some issues that we have found that we are going to resolve”.

However, the Minister said “the phase two of Olorunsogo seems to be going on quiet well. In Olorunshogo what we have found is gas problem which we are going to go back and work with the ministry of petroleum and NNPC to resolve. They are already working on permanent line for Olorunsogo, I have talked with our gas people snice we left that place and they said that the permanent line is in construction and should be ready very soon. There is also a gas pipeline, Escravos Lagos gasoline that is also under construction that should also help to relief and that is also coming”.

Also, speaking, the Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, noted that “ we are on a fact-finding tour to find what are the problems, what are the prospects and what is the state of progress in all our power plants. The power minister has said that this plant is ready and that there are small technical problems that shouldn’t obstruct production. You (power minister) are on top of the situation and you are providing the leadership.

And as we go back, I am sure we will find solutions, if they are technical or financial, we will apply them and if they are managerial, we will definitely advice.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Power, Professor Nnaji has assured the management of Egbin power plant that the Federal Government would soon provide the required N1.5billion to restore 220mgw ST-06 plant from the station. The station has 1,320 mega watts installed capacity but currently generates less than 1,000 mega watts.

The Minister did not make the pledge not until he had switched-on the fifth plant which was recently rehabilitated by by NIgerian engineers at the cost of about N100 million as against N200 million it would have cost the government it was to be repaired by foreigners.

Uzoigwe, who request for the fresh funding of N1.5 billion while briefing the minister, said it would take the staff ten months to restore the plant to its full capacity if provided with enough funds; adding that restoring the plant became necessary considering the strategic importance of the plant to meeting the country’s power needs. He noted that the 27-year old plant have five of its six Units belting power.

He described the plant as the backbone and engine of electricity supply in Nigeria, as it has the capacity of providing 35 percent of the nation’s power needs, saying that the renovation of the gas turbine by the staff costs the plant N100 million, saying it would have cost the government about N200 million.

Nnaji, while responding to the submissions from the staff through their union leaders, allayed their fears over the privatisation of the plant and the envisaged mass retrenchment of staff; even as he added that it would no longer be feasible to handover the plant to private investor by December,noting that the staff have proved their worth by maintaining the plant despite the challenges.

“Seeing your ability to repair the whole plant gives me joy and any one willing to take over the plant must come and see you. Our visit here has been quite insightful. This plant is being managed and operated by our own people with technical capacity and leadership that knows his own onions,” he said.

He also noted that the problem of power in the country was not from the power generation but rather from the distribution companies who he accused of lack of will to utilise the power being generated from the plants.

“Our problem is not with the plants but the distribution companies. About 40 percent of the power generated get lost on transmission because the distribution companies are unable to pay for the power generated from the plants. It is warrisome that the distribution companies are not doing enough to justify the power generated because of over bloated staff.”

He also promised government’s readiness to implement the 50 percent salary increment.

The Secretary of the workers’ union, Mr Kingsley Ndome who spoke at the forum, requested the minister to clarify insinuation that the ministry was compiling names of staff to be sacked, as he expressed their anxiety over the envisaged mass retrenchment of staff being planned by the ministry.

Barth Nnaji spoke further on the privatisation of power sector saying that “the privatization is all about money, let all the 1,320 mw of power be provided for Nigerians and let us even consider expansion, there is nobody that will take over power station in this country that we will permit to operate it just as it is. We talked about spare parts, about getting the power to where it was originally installed and expanding the stations”.

“I like to tell workers not to be afraid of privatization because what is going to happen is not about getting people off work, there is nobody that is interested in that, we are here to help you do your job better than the way you are doing now”, he said.

Asked to speak on his general experience on the tour, he said, “I’m quiet optimistic at the progress of work at the various power station and I am also pleased at the dedication by our workers in ensuring they do what they need to do to recover the lost capacities at the various power stations.

There are some places that we will need to do some reinforcement but overall a good work is going on. In Egbin, which actuall provides about 25 per cent of the entire power in this nation, they have done very, very well in their efforts to continue to provide electricity”.

On the issue of spare parts, he said “ clearly, for us and for me as power minister, I want to see local content in the power provision in Nigeria, I will like to see a lot of content that goes into the production of power, manufactured in Nigeria. Some of them can start from simple assemblies and ultimately the components that go into them would still be manufactured in Nigeria. We are talking of transformers, switch gears, cabals, a who,e lot of the com Ige ts that go not power stations, sub-stations and so on, should be manufactured in Nigeria. Whatever enablement we need to do, we will be doing”.

Source:Vanguardngr
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