THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS - JULY 23: View of the International Criminal Court as Dutch prosecuters consider a war crimes investigation of the Malaysia Airlines crash July 23, 2014 in The Hague, The Netherlands. Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed killing all 298 on board including 80 children. The aircraft was allegedly shot down by a missile and investigations continue over the perpetrators of the attack. (Photo by Michel Porro/Getty Images)
UPP still consulting with Pro Biafra groups and indigenous people all over Nigeria.
BVI channel 1 can confirm that a wide consultation is still going on through Nigeria to woo all those who believe in self determination among different ethnic groups that make up Nigeria.
It should be noted that UPP has gone into alliance with MOBIN- a Biafra political platform know as Movement of Biafra in Nigeria. MOBIN serves as a mobilization agent to UPP.
The Chairman of UPP-Chief Dr Chekwas Okorie confirmed to BVI Channel 1 that UPP has the same agenda with Pro Biafra groups agitating for self determination.
He further stated that the best approach to achieve Biafra independence is through political process.
We enjoyed it, we worshiped,we praised him, and also we enjoyed the comic aspect of it courtesy of TRENDY (OAP/VJ @ABS 90.7fm, Hype Mc @NovoLounge, Comic God @BVI Channel 1) .
Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Imo State students were craving for more by asking when is The IMPACT3 COMING UP and Nwachukwu Daniel Obinna (the convener) said: “ANTICIPATE IT CAUSE IS COMING”
The Unveiling of REASON TO LAUGH Season 1 Audio CD in Word Builders Redemption Centre Onitsha was a huge success as people came out in Mass to support one of their very own_MC BRUNO
Guests were thrilled with Music & Dance, moreso with Comedy courtesy of: Trendy (OAP/VJ of ABS RadioTV, also “Ezemmuo” Hype Mc of NovoLounge, also Comic God of BVI Channel 1), Balak, Spraise, Emmy Sax, Mc Gabby Angel & DJ Syda
Mc Bruno gave a vote of thanks to the guests who came to support his “ministry”, vision, brand & “quality”
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS - JULY 23: View of the International Criminal Court as Dutch prosecuters consider a war crimes investigation of the Malaysia Airlines crash July 23, 2014 in The Hague, The Netherlands. Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed killing all 298 on board including 80 children. The aircraft was allegedly shot down by a missile and investigations continue over the perpetrators of the attack. (Photo by Michel Porro/Getty Images)
President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Nnia Nwodo, has said that the Igbo people are in grave danger in Nigeria.
Nwodo also called for prayers for the Igbo people to change the situation and challenges faced by them.
Nwodo was quoted to have spoken, during the weekend, at a church service in his honour by the Knights of St. John at St. Mulumba Catholic Church in New Haven, Enugu.
Nwodo said it was important that other ethnic groups understand the peculiarity of challenges faced by the Igbo.
He said: “I dedicate myself completely to all the supplication as offered in the Mass. I ask Ndigbo wherever they are to pray collectively for all of us.”
We are in dire straight, we are in very grave situation. I also ask that we pray for other Nigerians to understand our peculiar circumstances, understand our case and give us once more a hand of fellowship in a united Nigeria,” Nwodo said.
Also speaking at the event, President of the Commandery services of the New Haven Gilbert Obu said Nwodo is a member of Commandery.
He said the Commandary have decided to honour him for this reason.
“We thank God for Ohanaeze for our checkered history,” Obu said.
“We know that this is a man whom God has groomed like David in the Bible. We know that he will take Igbo to higher heights. What he needs is prayers and support every Igboman can give him.
“We expect so much from him in Nigeria contest, as you can see Igbo have not gotten anything now. All the commanders of armed forces, the police, there is no Igboman.
So, we want to make an impact for Nigerians to know that Igbo are here to stay because we are part of Nigeria. We should be given the right position,” he said.
Source: Sun Newspaper.
ABUJA – PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has said that he needs a longer time to rest in London, United Kingdom, where he is on medical vacation.
The President said his need for further rest is necessitated by the series of medical tests conducted on him.
Expressing gratitude to Nigerians, who had been praying for him, he, however, said there is no cause for alarm.
The President’s appreciation was contained in a brief statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, yesterday.
The polity was awash with mixed reactions, yesterday, following President Buhari’s comments that he needs a longer time to rest in London. While some okayed further rest for him, others urged the presidency to be open about Buhari’s health status and stop taking Nigerians for granted.
Meanwhile, Senate President Bukola Saraki, yesterday, conveyed President Buhari’s greetings to senators while reading the president’s letter on extension of vacation and Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s letter on confirmation of Justice Walter Onnoghen as Chief Justice of the Federation, CJN.
Also, the Acting President has sent the name of a non-career ambassadorial nominee from Ogun State to the Senate for confirmation.
No cause for worry– Buhari
Adesina’s statement read: “President Muhammadu Buhari thanks millions of Nigerians who have been sending good wishes and praying for his health and well-being in mosques and churches throughout the country.
“The President is immensely grateful for the prayers, show of love and concern. President Buhari wishes to reassure Nigerians that there is no cause for worry.
“During his normal annual checkup, tests showed he needed a longer period of rest, necessitating the President staying longer than originally planned.”
President Buhari left Nigeria for London on January 19, 2017.
He was due to return after 10 official days but at the expiration of the period, he wrote to the National Assembly, extending his medical vacation indefinitely.
The continued stay of the President has, however, brewed controversy, dividing Nigerians in many respects.
Jolted by the statement, State House correspondents later sought more clarification from Adesina on President Buhari’s state of health.
The interview, at the Old Banquet Hall, Abuja, after a meeting on Promoting Effective Policy Monitoring and Evaluating and Performance of Ministers, Department and Agencies in the implementation of the 2016 Budget of Change organized by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, went thus:
The proposed law would empower the governor, by an order, to “designate land in each local government in respect of which cattle or other ruminants may be permitted to graze.”
If passed by the House, the law would ensure that no cattle or other ruminants shall by any means move or graze at night anywhere in the state; just as it will also make provision for the impounding of cattle or other ruminants.
Urging his colleagues to give the bill favourable consideration, Ntuen said: “It will also restrict cattle movement and grazing to the hours of 7am and 6pm.
“Any herdsmen found in possession of firearms shall be charged with unlawful possession of firearms. Any confiscated cattle shall be taken to government cattle ranches or any other designated areas as may be directed.
“Any property or farm products destroyed by the cattle shall be valued by the agricultural officers and made to be paid for by the herdsman.”
Speaker,Onofiok Luke,who described the bill as “a reflection of the Assembly’s people-centred philosophy, said there was need for the House to act proactively to safeguard lives and property of residents in the state.
“The House of Assembly is here to make laws that will safeguard the lives and property of our people at all times because this is what we were elected to do.”
Luke himself had in his first term in 2013 moved a motion on the floor of the House seeking full government control of the activities of herdsmen in the state.
He had warned then that it was important for government to take proactive steps to ensure that areas were designated for grazing, where herdsmen and their cattle would be put in close monitoring by relevant authorities in the state.
Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has appointed his wife as the country’s first vice president. Mehriban Aliyeva was appointed as Vice President on the 21st February, 2017 after a constitutional changes introduced the powerful position of first vice president, the second most senior official in the country.
Aliyeva, 52, has been an MP for the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party since 2005 and head of the influential Heydar Aliyev Foundation – named after her father-in-law and former president.
Born into the powerful Pashayev family, Aliyeva has sometimes been seen as a possible successor to her husband, who took over in 2003 after the death of his father Heydar, a former KGB officer and Communist-era boss.
Mehriban Aliyeva (née Pashayeva) was born into a family described in Wikileaks cables as “the single most powerful family in Azerbaijan.” Her grandfather was noted Azerbaijani writer Mir Jalal Pashayev. Her uncle Hafiz Pashayev was Azerbaijan’s first Ambassador to the United States. Aliyeva’s father Arif Pashayev is Rector of the National Aviation Academy in Baku, and her mother, Aida Imanguliyeva (1939–1992) was a prominent philologist and arabist.
Mehriban Aliyeva finished secondary school in 1981 and married Ilham Aliyev, the son of Heydar Aliyev, in Baku on 22 December 1983.She continued her studies, in which she excelled, at the Azerbaijan Medical University and later at the Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy, from which she graduated in 1988. From 1988–92, Mehriban Aliyeva worked at the State Research Institute of Eye Diseases of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in Moscow, which was led by Dr. Mikhail Krasnov. Two articles in The Times in 2005 described her as a “qualified physician”and “former eye doctor.”
The Aliyevs have two daughters, Leyla (born 3 July 1985) and Arzu (born 23 January 1987) and a son Heydar (born 2 August 1997). Leyla is the editor of Baku magazine, published by Azerbaijani Russian businessman Aras Agalarov, and is married to his son Emin Agalarov.
TheApex social-political organisation in Igbo land, Ohanaeze has condemned the killing and maltreatment of members of the Radio Biafra faction of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) by Federal Government agencies.
The group also called for a true fiscal federalism, saying it is the only way to solve Nigeria’s political problems.
Briefing newsmen in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday, the President-General of Ohanaeze, Chief John Nwodo recalled how members of the two agitating groups were killed in Anambra, Asaba, Aba and Port Harcourt, among others, and some of the victims thrown into the river.
According to him, security agencies have refused to release bodies of killed Radio Biafra IPOB and MASSOB members to their respective families.
Nwodo wondered why members of Radio Biafra IPOB and MASSOB are maltreated by security agencies, unlike members of Boko Haram, Odua Peoples Congress (OPC) andAvengers, among others.
He said Federal Government’s continuous maltreatmentof IPOB and MASSOB m embers would only end up making Biafra inevitable.
Nwodo was in Port Harcourt to meet with the Igbo living in the state and to pay a courtesy visit to Governor Nyesom Wike. He said anything short of true federalism, where federating units are given a level of independence to develop at their own pace and contribute their quota to the centre would make the political crisis in Nigeria to linger.
He lamented the marginalisation of South East and South-South in the areas of political appointments, as well as occupying key positions in the security agencies. According to the President-General, the federal character principle has been grossly violated in favor of a section of the country, noting that the Igbo are also qualified to occupy key and sensitive positions in the country.
The Ohanaeze Ndigbo boss insisted that Nigerians should write their own constitution, as against the current one written by the military.
“Today, under this makeshift federation, people are grumbling. We call for fiscal freedom in Nigeria for things to move forward,” Nwodo said.
He, however, urged the Igbo to bring back their wealth and invest at home, to give the youths hope and sense of belonging. He also lauded IPOB and MASSOB for going about their agitation peacefully.
, pointing out that despite the high level of insurgency in the North, no insurgent has been charged of treason or detained.
“What the Federal Government is doing is unfair, unfriendly and unusual. I, therefore, call on the northern elite to speak up against this unfair treatment meted out against the South. Time has come for the negotiation of the Nigerian federation and there is no going back.
“Some have declared war on the Nigerian state tearing our national flag to shreds and planting their own while embarking on mass killing of our nationals and they are not arrested or detained. Others from the Niger Delta break pipelines and kill people and are rather called for negotiation and dialogue but for the Biafran agitators, they are killed even when they are holding lawful meetings,” he said.
The organisation, whose new Executive was elected on January10, 2017 and led by Chief John Nnia Nwodo, had earlier visited Lagos and Abuja, two cities that have largest Igbo population outside the seven Igbo dominated states. The states include, Abia, Anambra, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu , Imo and Rivers.
Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has insisted that it wants Biafra restoration and not Igbo presidency as agitated in some quarters.
The group noted that any Igbo man or woman that presents him or herself as a presidential candidate of any party will become an object of public ridicule. It added that it no longer talks about the Igbo alone, but Biafrans beyond the Igbo speaking parts of the South East and South South.
The Head of Directorate of State (DOS) of IPOB, Mr. Uchenna Asiegbu, in a statement yesterday, warned Igbo politicians who were going round seeking support for either 2019 or 2023 presidency to desist from it or be ready to face the music.
“We are aware that some Igbo politicians are working tirelessly to impose their master in Abuja on our people, by defending Muhammadu Buhari. They say his administration loves and favours our people, we are not worried because they are defending their office and the little crumbs they are getting from Abuja.
“Therefore, we warn those calling for a president from Igbo extraction to beware because Biafra is at the corner and we are not interested. The Igbo elite have disappointed the entire race since after the civil war.
“Very soon, those saddled with the attitude of a governor and a minister will no longer be considered serious players or relevant in the scheme of unfolding events that actually matter in the lives of our people.
“There will be no election in Biafraland, not just in Igbo speaking territories but all across Biafraland in 2019 because enough of the same old, discredited, washed out and corrupt individuals recycling themselves in political office year after year with nothing to show for it.
“Biafra is on the verge of being restored and we won’t trade it for anything in the world, not even an Igbo presidency of the United States of America. Very soon, the world will understand how serious we are about Biafra. People should relax and watch events as they unfold,” Asiegbu declared.
Meanwhile, a faction of the pro-Biafran group known as Customary Government of the Indigenous People of Biafra (CG-IPOB) has disassociated itself from the statement credited to Emma Powerful that IPOB would never be part of Nigeria politics and cannot support Anambra State election.
The group, in a statement signed by its Director of Information, Ndubuisi Anaenugwu in Onitsha yesterday said it has increasingly become necessary to reiterate that IPOB stands for ‘Indigenous People of Biafra, and there are about 70,000,000 of these indigenous Biafrans living everywhere across the globe.
“All of these people are referred to as indigenous persons of Biafra. The public should, however, note that the IPOB being referred to by Emma Powerful are people who pay allegiance to a company called IPOB Limited, registered in the UK.
The Customary Government of IPOB being administered by Anthony Aniebue under the leadership of Retd Justice Eze Ozobu and Dr Ikedife has been in the Federal High Court, Owerri with the government since 2012 and the case is still progressing with positive results.
“But the whole world will understand how massive IPOB is and the yearning of ordinary people for freedom before 2019”.
“These Igbo political contractors parading themselves as some sort of an elite, are endlessly strategising on new supposedly beneficial political permutations to no avail”.
“Every one of these politicians always have one spectacular move or strategic maneuver that will turn the Igbo fortune around but in the end nothing ever materialises. Same old Abuja slaves, same old story, so there is nothing new for us to reckoned with”
“As the British would say, “no brainer”. Thereby warn Biafrans choosing president of Nigeria from Igbo extraction is like taking purgatory than heaven, darkness than light, hope than despair. We are IPOB, we exist solely for Biafra restoration, nothing more nothing less. Igbo presidency would not solve anything, instead it would make matters worse”.
“Even the Goodluck Jonathan administration was considered more beneficial to the North than any part of Biafraland. Jonathan did not complete one major landmark infrastructural project anywhere in Biafraland but he built a modern railway line between Kaduna and Abuja in the hope that the North will love him, which never happened. That is how Biafran politicians behave” Asiegbu stated.
“The neglect of Biafraland by Goodluck Jonathan tells you even Igbo man enter there as president of Nigeria the person will stand with the north, you need to know about these politicians and their mindset. Our people believes in charity always begin in the North and that is why they are in the fine mess they find themselves in today’s Nigeria politics” he stated
“Biafra is on the verge of being restored and we won’t trade it for anything in the world, not even an Igbo presidency of the United States of America. Very soon the world will understand how serious we are about Biafra. People should relax and watch events as they unfold,” Asiegbu declared.
ENUGU—Following the Nigerian Army denial that it did not kill 11 members the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, during the group’s rally in support of US President, Donald Trump, on January 20, 2017, IPOB has asked the army to wait for them at the International Criminal Court, ICC, in The Hague.
IPOB also accused the army of alternating between calling its outing in Port Harcourt a “protest” and a “rally” at the same time. The group, therefore, said it was only a liar that could describe a rally as a protest, saying that “the Nigerian Army has been caught in another web of lies.” Deputy Director of Army Public Relations of 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Colonel Aminu Iliyasu, had in a statement denied killing of IPOB members and labeled the group as a “criminal gang.”
But Radio Biafra IPOB spokesmen, Mr Emma Nmezu, and Dr. Clifford Chukwuemeka Iroanya, in their reply to the Army, said it has become customary for the army to kill IPOB members and deny it. “This is not the first, neither is it going to be the last time that the Nigerian Army will kill our members and shamelessly come out to deny it.” IPOB gave a list of its members killed by the Army to include IPOB massacres in Onitsha, Aba, Port Harcourt, Nkpor, Asaba; Shiite massacres in Kaduna and Kano, among others. Part of the Radio Biafra IPOB statement read: “International human rights groups have consistently labeled the Nigerian Army as perennial liars incapable of ever telling the truth when it comes to their culpability in the mass execution of unarmed civilians. “IPOB and those who read the haphazardly written statements from Col. Aminu Iliyasu are left wondering how on the one hand he stated that Radio Biafra IPOB conducted a rally in support of President Trump while on the other hand, he called it a protest.
“IPOB will like to remind this quota-system Colonel that the General Abdulsalami Abubakar-written Nigerian Constitution which he referred to is very explicit on the responsibilities of the Nigerian Armed Forces (not just the Army alone), especially in Section-217(2) and this does not in any way stipulate using live ammunition on peaceful and unarmed civilians. “We will also like to remind Iliyasu that security agencies, media organizations, foreign embassies, and specifically, the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State were all informed ahead of time of the pro-Trump rally, through an official letter signed by the leadership of Radio Biafra IPOB.
“This Colonel must understand that a rally or even a protest is not an armed rebellion that will warrant deployment of troops of 29 Battalion of Nigerian Army with a mandate to fire live bullets at peaceful and unarmed civilians. “May we ask why the same deployment of troops was not carried out on those who protested against President Trump in Abuja on the same date? “How come troops were not deployed to shoot and kill civilians during the recent “anti-Buhari” protest that was led by the likes of Charles Oputa a.k.a. Charlie Boy? Why must the Hausa-Fulani dominated Nigerian Army and Police regard every IPOB assembly or rally as an opportunity to embark upon some kind of mini Jihad designed to kill as many non-Muslims as possible? “IPOB is extremely pleased that what transpired that day was captured on pictures and videos as most of the unspeakable atrocities of the Nigerian Army and police are.
“On his insinuation, borne out of panic, that Radio Biafra IPOB will post old videos and pictures from our archives in social media, we advise the Colonel not to worry but to leave the authentication of the evidence we have to the civilized panel of judges at the International Criminal Court, ICC.” “It is reassuring to observe that at least the lying Nigerian Army is aware that all their murderous outrage on January 20, 2017 were captured on video.”
ABUJA – A lead investigator with the Department of State Service, DSS, Mr. Babatunde Adepoju, on Tuesday, revealed before an Abuja High Court at Maitama, that a lawyer that represented President Muhammadu Buhari during his certificate saga, offered N500, 000 to Justice Adeniyi Ademola who is facing corruption charges.
Adepoju testified as the sixteenth prosecution witness, PW- 16, in the ongoing trial of Justice Ademola, his wife, Olabowale, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Joe Agi.
The defendants are answering to an18-count corruption charge the Federal Government preferred against them. The embattled Judge who hitherto served at the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court before he was asked to temporarily step down from the bench by the National Judicial Council, NJC, was among other allegations, accused of receiving gratifications from Agi to the tune of N38.5m, including a BMW Saloon 320i car gift valued at N8.5million. The Judge allegedly received the car which was purchased from Coscharis Motors Ltd on January 5, 2015, through his son, Ademide. At the resumed hearing of the case on Tuesday, the PW-16, told the trial court that investigation by the DSS showed that the N8.5m car was not the only gift the first defendant received from persons whose cases were pending before his court. While being cross-examined by Agi’s lawyer, Mr. Jeph Njikonye, the witness, told the court that the security agency uncovered that President Buhari’s lawyer, Mr. Kola Awodehin, SAN, also gave the accused Judge N500, 000 as gift. He told the court that the monetary gift was handed to Ademola during the wedding of his daughter.
The DSS operative said the issue came to the limelight during interrogation of the 3rd defendant, Agi, SAN, which took place on two separate dates, December 13 and 23, 2016. He said Agi maintained that N30m gift, which was paid into Mrs. Ademola’s account in three tranches of N10m, was based on instruction of his clients, adding that it was not the only wedding gift the judge received. The witness said that Agi told him that as at the time Awodehin, SAN, gave the gift to Justice Ademola, the suit seeking to sack President Buhari from office over his alleged none possession of requisite educational qualifications, was still pending before the judge. Adepoju said the DSS did not investigate Agi’s claim. Nevertheless, Agi’s lawyer, Mr. Njikonye, tendered the Certified True Copy, CTC, of the record of proceedings in the certificate saga suit between Chukwu Okafor vs General Muhammad Buhari. Trial Justice Jude Okeke admitted the document into evidence and marked it as Exhibit FFF. Going through the exhibit, the witness confirmed that the third counsel for Buhari in the suit was Mr. Awodehin, SAN, as well as the fact that it was handled by Justice Ademola.
Asked if President Buhari was bribing the judge to win the case against him by presenting a wedding gift to the judge incharge of the case, Adepoju said: “No my lord. In my opinion, it would be speculative to say the gift by President Buhari’s lawyer was a bribe to Justice Ademola. It is not a bribe.” He further dismissed as speculative, any insinuation that gifts Justice Ademola got from friends through Mr. Agi, during the wedding, amounted to bribery. It will be recalled that over 10 different suits querying the educational qualification of President Buhari suffered natural deaths shortly after the All Progressives Congress, APC, took over power in May 29, 2015, including the one filed by Okafor. Justice Ademola had on June 30, 2016, struck out a similar suit by Mr. Nnamdi Nwokocha-Ahaaiwe after the defendant, without adducing any reason, filed a withdrawal notice. All the plaintiffs had applied for an order invalidating the Certificate of Return issued to President Buhari by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Nwokocha-Ahaaiwe specifically sought for “an order directing INEC to issue a new Certificate of Return to the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, being the candidate who came second in the 2015 Presidential Elections”.
President Buhari had engaged a consortium of lawyers, comprising of 13 Senior Advocates of Nigeria, SANS, to defend him. Buhari equally went before the Court of Appeal in Abuja to challenge a ruling Justice Ademola delivered on May 26, 2016, wherein he held that the suit was properly served on the defendant by the plaintiff. Meanwhile, FG, on Tuesday, closed its case against the defendants after it called a total of 19 witnesses. The defendants, through their respective lawyers, told the court that they are ready to make a no-case-to-answer-submission, regarding all the allegations against them. They are contending that FG failed to establish a prima-facie criminal case capable of warranting them to enter their defence to the 18-count charge. Justice Okeke adjourned the case till March 15 for adoption of written addresses on their no-case-submission. In the charge, FG alleged that Ademola had in the course of his official duty, collected bribe from the senior lawyer through a Guarantee Trust Bank, GTB, account number 201/110160/1/1/0, operated by his wife who as at then was the Head of Service in Lagos State. Trial Justice Jude Okeke had earlier admitted into evidence, bags of cash, both foreign and local currencies which were allegedly recovered from the official residence of the Judge. FG brought the cash totalling about N39.5m in three Ghana-Must-Go bags and tendered it in evidence through an exhibit keeper at the DSS, Mr. Umar Ahmed, who testified as the 11th prosecution witness.
Source: Vanguard Newspaper.
