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Easter: Us Warns Citizens Of Possible Attacks In Nigeria

Ahead this year's Easter celeberation, the United States Department of State has warned American citizens living in Nigeria over possible terrorist attacks in the country.

Issuing this warning through the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria, the Department of State said that given the history of attacks throughout Nigeria during previous holiday weekends, as well as the recent attack in Kano on March 18 and the failed attempt in Kano on March 23, all U.S. citizens living and traveling in Nigeria to take extra precautions for your personal security and safety.

"Due to the continued threat of kidnapping of expatriates country-wide, including recent kidnappings on Victoria Island in Lagos, the U.S. Mission recommends that U.S. citizens and organizations maintain accountability for the whereabouts of their staff, test communication systems to ensure that they are working properly, and ensure secure means of transport for any necessary travel.

"Review your personal security plans; remain aware of your surroundings, including local events; and monitor local news stations for updates.  Maintain a high level of vigilance and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security and follow instructions of local authorities" the warning reads in part.

The U.S. Mission also advised all U.S. citizens to be particularly vigilant around churches and other places of worship, locations where large crowds may gather, government facilities, and areas frequented by expatriates and foreign travelers during the upcoming holiday weekend. 

Noting that security measures in Nigeria remain heightened due to threats posed by extremist groups, the American government said that U.S. citizens should expect additional police and military checkpoints, additional security, and possible road blocks throughout the country during the holiday weekend.

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JTF Impounds Vessel, Fishing Trawler And Crew For Alleged Oil Theft

Yenagoa, March 30, 2013 (NAN) The Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Niger Delta, Operation Pulo Shield, has arrested a sea going vessel with 12 crew members along the Akassa Water Ways in Bayelsa.

In a statement in Yenagoa on Saturday Lt. Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, Media Coordinator of Operation Pulo Shield, said the vessel was arrested during its anti-oil theft and pipeline vandalism operations.

Nwachukwu said that the operation took place between March 19 and March 29.

He said that the arrested vessel, MV Buyus with fake clearance documents, was secured at the Nigerian Navy Dock Yard in Brass Local Government of Bayelsa.

The suspects, according to the statement have been handed over to the appropriate prosecuting agencies for further investigation and subsequent prosecution.

It added that a fishing trawler christened Bolajoko with five crew members on board was also impounded by troops of the JTF at the NPA Jetty, Bonny in Rivers.

It said that the fishing trawler was impounded, while trans-loading suspected stolen crude into large plastic tanks and drums with the aid of water pumping machines.

The statement said that the suspects were currently undergoing preliminary investigations at the JTF Sector 2 Headquarters in Port Harcourt.

``Arrested alongside the vessel were 55 assorted boats conveying stolen petroleum product, along Otumara and Araton general area of Warri South Local Government Area of Delta.

``During the operation, five camps, where stolen crude oil was being refined illegally, were discovered and destroyed in Akassa, Sangana, Igbematoru and Ogbia creeks of Bayelsa.

``Also, 59 assorted open boats, 451 drums, 12 illegal oil refinery camps, 88 plastic tanks, six  outboard engines and 18 pumping machines were seized.

``They were seized along Elume in Warri North, Escravos , Saghara Creeks in Warri South and Benneth Island in Delta,'' Nwachukwu said.

He said that the land patrol squads of the JTF had also intercepted four tanker trucks conveying suspected stolen petroleum products along Enugu–Port Harcourt Express Road.

The drivers and tanker trucks were arrested when they failed to produce documents certifying them for lifting of the product.

They have been handed over to the Imo Command of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) for prosecution.

The JTF, however, urged oil firms operating in the Niger Delta region to collaborate and evacuate the reservoirs used by the oil thieves to deter the oil thieves from returning to the illicit trade.

``This call was necessitated, following the finding that most of the illegal oil refinery camps discovered during the operation had earlier been scuttled by JTF troops.

``But were later resuscitated as the reservoirs were not evacuated from the crime scene,” it said.

NAN recalls that Shell Petroleum Development Company had threatened to shut its Nembe Trunk line because of rising incidents of oil theft through its pipeline network in Bayelsa.

Mr Mutiu Sumonu, the Managing Director of SPDC, on March 4, urged the JTF to step up its activities to reduce oil theft, currently standing at about 60,000 barrels daily. (NAN)

 

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Northern Traditional Rulers Want FG To Consider Amnesty To Insurgents

Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council (NTRC) has appealed to federal government to reconsider its stand and grant amnesty to insurgents who embraced peace, reformation and reintegration.

The appeal is contained a communique issued at the end of the council’s meeting in Sokoto on Friday.

According to the monarchs ,  ``this is the norm the world over and there exists a precedent in Nigeria’’ .

 ``The unfortunate escalation of the insecurity in the country calls for decisive action by the government in order to contain it.
 

`` The meeting also called on the Federal Government to consider dialogue as the better option in resolving the crises."
 

The meeting also noted that the insurgency was not targeted at non-Muslims  as majority of the victims were Muslims.

`` Attempts on the lives of their Royal Highnesses , the Shehu of Borno , the Emir of Kano and the Emir of Fika and the killing of a number of Muslim  scholars  are testimonies to this fact .

``The meeting noted with deep concern that the majority  of the victims of the various crises are  the ordinary citizens."

 Similarly ,the traditional rulers noted with concern the deteriorating rate of unemployment and its tendency to provide militants a potent source of recruits .

They called on all governments to take necessary, positive and tangible steps to create jobs  as well as fight poverty in all its ramifications .

 ``As part of the strategies to fight poverty in addressing the current and potential security and other challenges, the meeting calls for systematic review of the nation’s education system to make its products more skilful, productive , self-reliant and better prepared for life challenges .

 ``The meeting calls on Nigerians to engage in fervent prayers for God Almighty to intervene and relieve us of the current problems .
 

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Football: Nigeria Ask For Qualifying Reschedule

Nigeria have asked FIFA to reschedule their World Cup qualifiers in June for fairness, arguing that all games in their group be played on the same day.

Nigeria are top of their qualifying group on five points from three matches with Malawi also on five points but with an inferior goal difference.
 
Last week, FIFA adjusted Nigeria World Cup qualifiers because of their participation at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil.
This meant the African champions will play Kenya in Nairobi on Wednesday, June 5, and then take on Namibia in Windhoek on Wednesday, June 12, before flying to Brazil for the Confederations Cup.
 
Nigeria have now proposed that their Group F matches as well as those involving closest rivals Malawi be played on the same day. This would either be on June 5 and 12 or the original dates of June 8 and 15.
 
The formal complaint to FIFA was made by Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) general secretary Musa Amadu.
"We make this request in the interest of fairness, as at the moment, Nigeria and Malawi have same number of points (five) and for Nigeria to play two days before Malawi in each of the two important qualifying games in June will give undue advantage to the Malawians," said Amadu.
 
"We see the FIFA Confederations Cup as a key tournament, but we also know we have to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals as priority. It is important to us to go to the FIFA Confederations Cup and then return to Brazil a year later for the FIFA World Cup finals."

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Suicide Bomber Kills 12 In Pakistan – Officials

A suicide bomber on Friday targeted a senior Pakistani police commander, killing 12 people, including two women, near the US consulate in Peshawar, officials said.

It was the latest in a string of attacks as the country prepares to hold historic elections on May 11. The vote will mark the first democratic transition of power in Pakistan, which has been governed by four military rulers.
A security official said Abdul Majeed Marwat, commander of the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, survived the attack and was taken to a military hospital with "only scratches".
Around 28 other people were wounded in the blast, medics said.
 
"It was a suicide attack, the target was the FC commander," police official Arshad Khan told AFP.
Witnesses said the bomber was on foot and struck when the convoy of the police chief stopped at a military checkpost in the busy cantonment area of Peshawar.
 
The checkpost is about 300 metres from the heavily guarded American consulate, which has itself been the target of attacks in the past, an AFP reporter said.
"We have received six dead bodies, including two women," Sayed Jameel Shah, a spokesman for Peshawar's main Lady Reading Hospital, told AFP.
 
He later confirmed that two of the injured died in hospital.
"They were in serious condition in the neurosurgery ward," he said.
Another four bodies and 17 other wounded were taken to the Combined Military Hospital, a senior security official told AFP.
Among the dead were two soldiers and one member of the FC, while the wounded were a mixture of civilians and military personnel, officials said.
 
The blast damaged two motorcycles and four cars, including Marwat's vehicle. Splashes of blood lay on the ground and an AFP reporter saw a pair of legs, presumed to be that of the bomber.
Umar Din, 21, a rickshaw driver, said the force of the explosion flipped his rickshaw onto the ground.
"I came out and saw my passenger bleeding," he told AFP. "I picked up the passenger on my shoulder and ran to a safer place, it was horrible, people were bleeding and crying," he added.
 
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Pakistani police, soldiers and paramilitary units are frequently targeted by domestic Taliban, who have been fighting an insurgency since July 2007.
There are fears that rampant insecurity could prove a major challenge for the elections, not least in Peshawar, a key electoral battleground and home to 2.5 million on the edge of the tribal belt, a Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold.
The relatively nearby Tirah Valley has offered Pakistan's umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban a new base in the tribal district of Khyber, beyond the reach of ground troops and posing a heightened threat to Peshawar.
 
On Tuesday a girls' school teacher was shot dead in Khyber and last Saturday a suicide attack killed 17 soldiers in North Waziristan, the most notorious of the seven districts that make up the semi-autonomous tribal belt.
On March 21, a car bomb killed 17 people at Jalozai, the country's largest refugee camp, as scores of people queued for rations, just outside Peshawar.
 
Pakistan says more than 35,000 people have been killed as a result of terrorism in the country since the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
 

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