Obama's 52-minute meeting with Pope Francis!

U.S President Obama met Pope Francis at the Vatican for nearly an hour Thursday amid a complex backdrop of conflict over contraception, concern for the plight of the poor, and the pontiff's emergence as a powerful persona on the world stage. 

According to reports, Obama arrived amid the pomp and tradition of the Catholic Church, making his way to greet the pope after a long, slow procession. 

"Wonderful meeting you, I'm a great admirer," the president said to Pope Francis when the two met in the Small Throne Room of the papal residence. "Thank you sir, thank you."

The pontiff and the president shook hands before sitting down with their translators at a wooden table in the Papal Library for their meeting.

"I bring greetings from my family," the president said. "The last time I came here to meet your predecessor I was able to bring my wife and children."

 Although the two were scheduled to meet for half an hour, their private discussion reportedly lasted only 52 minutes. Obama seem buoyed by the meeting as they emerged and the pope greeted a handful of Obama's senior advisers. Catholic Secretary of State John Kerry pronounced himself "a great admirer of everything you've been doing, as a Catholic, for the church."

Obama then presented the pope with a seed chest with fruit and vegetable seeds used in the White House Garden, in honor of the pope's announcement earlier this year that he's opening the gardens of the papal summer residence to the public. The chest was custom-made of leather and reclaimed wood from Baltimore's Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of the oldest Catholic cathedrals in the U.S, and inscribed with the date of their meeting.

Obama is the ninth president to make an official visit to the Vatican. His audience marked a change of pace for the president, who has devoted the past three days of a weeklong, four-country trip to securing European unity against Russia's aggressive posture toward Ukraine.

Source: Fox news

Diezani’s jet scandal: Reps panel under pressure, uncovers third aircraft!

There were indications on Wednesday  that members of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts had come under intense pressure to tread softly on their ongoing investigation into  the   alleged  financial excesses of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.

It was   also learnt in Abuja that Alison-Madueke   chartered a third jet for her use, besides the two already in the records of the committee.

The Solomon Olamilekan-led committee is  investigating the expenditure of  N10bn on a Challenger 850 chartered and maintained for  the minister’s use.

The PUNCH had reported exclusively on Wednesday that the committee was holding preliminary meetings on the investigation when it stumbled on fresh information that Alison-Madueke also chartered a second jet for her trips.

A source disclosed that a return trip on the Global Express XRS to London for example, gulped €600,000 or N137m.

However,  a lawmaker told our correspondent that  since the House passed the resolution last week to   probe the allegations against the minister, “forces within Nigeria, especially outside the National Assembly,”  had been calling some  of the committee members relentlessly.

He said, “At a point on Tuesday, the pressure became unbearable. I think people are beginning to think that the House is embarking on a witch-hunt. But that is not the idea.

“We are doing our constitutional duty to expose corruption wherever it exists.

“If at the end of the day, the investigation proves that it was justifiable for a minister to spend billions of naira to charter aircraft, so be it.”

Efforts to get key  members of the committee to  comment  on the alleged pressure  hit a brick wall.

Olamilekan  neither answered our correspondent’s calls nor replied text messages on Wednesday.

 When contacted, the spokesman for the House, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, said   it would be inappropriate for the House to speak on a matter it had referred to its committee for investigation.

 “The matter is before the committee”, he said.

Findings by on Wednesday showed that the committee was gathering information on the existence of a third jet chartered by the minister for the same purposes as the first two.

A source close to the   Public Accounts  committee, who confided in  our correspondent, said,  “From available information, “there  are three aircraft the minister charters for her trips within and outside the country. “What they were doing was  to alternate the planes,”

The source, who did not want his name in print,   was however quick to add that the committee’s assignment was only to investigate and not to indict anybody.

“Well, the assignment before the committee is an investigation. Nobody has been accused of any wrongdoing for now, but we have to establish all these allegations,” he said.

It was gathered that as of 4pm on Wednesday that the committee was yet to decide on the date it would summon Alison-Madueke.

 A meeting of the committee, which reportedly started around 1pm, had still in progress as of  4pm.

Top on the agenda were said to be the allegations against the minister.

 Another  source  said, “The members are meeting to discuss the methodology to adopt in the investigation.

“An aviation consultant is assisting with additional information.

“Essentially, the investigation is to establish whether the minister did spend these huge funds on the jets.

“Who approved the funds? Was the money appropriated by the National Assembly?

“What aspect of our laws allows a minister to fly in chartered aircraft overseas for her private or official trips.

“These are the issues and all agencies or officials involved will be invited to state their side of the case.”

Source: PUNCH

FG seeks Abacha $550m loot from US!

The Federal Government on Wednesday said it supported the United States’ seizure of   $550m corruption proceeds of a former Head of State, the late Gen. Sani Abacha and his associates.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, SAN, who stated this in a statement in Abuja said that the Federal Government would ensure the repatriation of the money to Nigeria.

He stated, “As the central authority for the Federal Republic of Nigeria, my office has received requests for Mutual Legal Assistance for the Central Authority of the United States and we are cooperating with the United States in line with the obligations we assumed under the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters.

“The overall objective of these efforts is to ensure that Nigeria as the victim state is able to have the forfeited assets (money) repatriated to Nigeria to fund development projects for the benefit of the people in accordance with the dictates of Chapter IV of the United Nations Convention against corruption. Let me assure you that Nigeria as State Party to UNCAC will do all that is required to realise this objective.”

The US government had,  a few days ago,  formally wrote the Federal Government for assistance to serve forfeiture notice on Abacha’s son, Mohammed; and an associate of the late dictator, Atiku Bagudu.

The defendants were given up till March 25, 2014 to file an application before the US District Court for Columbia to either set aside the forfeiture order or vary it

Among others, the defendants forfeited over $550m and £95,910m in 10 accounts and six investment portfolios linked to the Abachas in France, the Britain, British Virgin Island and the United States,  under the US Kleptomaniac Asset Recovery

Adoke, in the statement,  said, “The Federal Government of Nigeria welcomes the forfeiture proceedings initiated by the United States Department of Justice against the property related to the corrupt conduct of late General Sani Abacha, the former head of state of Nigeria, and His Associates and the subsequent laundering of corruption proceeds.

“The proceedings will make it possible for the defendants to forfeit over $550million and £95,910 in 10 accounts and six investment portfolios linked to the Abachas in France, the Britain, British Virgin Islands and the United States.”

The minister said that the Federal Government applauded the American government’s move    to recover the proceeds of corruption for the benefit of the people of Nigeria.

The US government had on March 5, 2014 ordered a freeze of assets stolen by the former dictator and his accomplices.

According to a civil forfeiture complaint unsealed in the US District Court in Washington, the department wants to recover more than $550m in connection with the action.

“This is the largest civil forfeiture action to recover the proceeds of foreign official corruption ever brought by the department,” said Mythili Raman, acting assistant attorney general

The US Justice Department had said the frozen assets, along with additional assets named in the complaint, represented the “proceeds of corruption” during and after the military regime of Abacha, who became Head of State through a military coup on November 17, 1993 and held that office until his death on June 8, 1998.

The complaint had alleged that Abacha; his associate,  Bagudu, and others “embezzled, misappropriated and extorted billions from the government of Nigeria and others, then laundered their criminal proceeds through the purchase of bonds backed by the United States using US financial institutions.”

Source: Punch

FRAUD - COVER - UP OR ACCIDENT? LAGOS CBN OFFICE ON FIRE!

Pictures below show the Lagos branch of the Central Bank of Nigeria office on fire Tuesday evening.



According to information received, the inferno started at about 5:40 pm, men of the Lagos state fire service were seen at the scene trying to put out the fire which eye witnesses believed started from the top floor of the building. 

It will be recalled that the ex. CBN governor Sanusi Lamido in an interview, told the New York Times that he believes his insistence at a meeting with bank chiefs to order a special audit of all Nigerian banks to unravel how $20 billion went missing from the country's treasury led to his eventual 

suspension,he was suspended nine days after meeting with the bank chiefs.

The Presidency in a press briefing  however debunked Sanusi's allegations saying he was not being truthful.

With the Lagos branch of the CBN fire incident, and going by the manner in which allegations of fraudulent activities in the corridors of different regimes have been covered-up in the country over the years, with no one asking questions nor providing answers; one can only but suspect that perhaps this will be the last Nigerians will be hearing about the alleged $20 billion missing funds.

Fulani kill 35 in Benue, 20 die in Borno attack!

Barely twelve days after suspected Fulani gunmen destroyed over 100 villages and killed over 30 persons in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State, the insurgents again reportedly attacked Gbajimba, headquarters of the local government, killing over 35 persons.

Eyewitness said the invaders attacked the town in the early hours of Sunday, shooting and burning houses while others stayed at the outskirts gunning down those scampering for safety.

It was gathered that over 35 persons were killed and that when the natives started running for safety, the mercenaries blocked the road, shooting at women and children.

Chairman of the local government, Mr. Frank Usa Adi, told newsmen that many casualties were recorded and that seven corpses have been moved to Makurdi while others have been taken to Abinsi.

He said more corpses have been recovered from the bush, disclosing further that the number of those rushed to the Benue State University Teaching Hospital, for treatment, could not be immediately ascertained.

He also  expressed pessimism that many of those receiving treatment may not survive, calling on security agencies to protect the local government from complete destruction.

While describing the Sunday attack as serious, Adi said the suspected Fulani gunmen have encircled the entire area.

He particularly appealed to the state police command to deploy more policemen to the area, stressing that the area was almost abandoned shortly before the attack.

“I cannot be specific about the number of casualties because more bodies are being recovered. But in respect of those having wounds, they are so many at the teaching hospital here “, he stressed.

When Daily Newswatch visited the teaching hospital, doctors and nurses were busy attending to the patients who were all covered with blood.

Even as there was restriction of movement, it was gathered that many had been taken to the intensive care unit.

Personal physician to Governor Gabriel Suswam, Mr Marcelinus Ortese, was also seen assisting medical officers at the hospital in the treatment of those injured.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO),  Daniel Ezeala, said  policemen were still combing the area to see if the mercenaries remained in the bush after the attack.

He confirmed that there was an attack and that his men would  give account of the exact thing that happened at the end of the day.

According to him, records of the number of houses burnt and the number of persons killed and injured were being taken so that correct figures would be given out to the media.

In a related development, suspected Islamic militants on Sunday, also detonated a bomb in a crowded marketplace in Bama, Borno State, killing at least 20 people, witnesses said.

Nigerian security officials said the attack bore the hallmarks of the al Qaeda-linked militant group, Boko Haram, fighting to carve an Islamic state out of North East Nigeria.

Security sources said Boko Haram has killed hundreds, possibly thousands, this year in a campaign of violence growing in intensity.

“I travelled to Bama …to buy bags of beans. Suddenly, there was a deafening bang at the middle of the market. It was in the late afternoon and commercial activities were at their peak,” said Shuaibu Abdulahi, a trader at the market, who estimated the death toll to be as high as 29.

Abba Tahir, a bus driver, offloading passengers at the market, said he counted 20 bodies.

“People were helping in evacuating the corpses after the confusion had died down. Some people who were injured were taken to the General Hospital,” Tahir said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. The military spokesman for Borno State did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A military crackdown since last May has failed to quell the insurgency, which after four and a half years remains the leading security threat to Africa’s top oil producing nation.

Borno State has ordered all of its schools shut before the end of term to protect children after Islamist killed dozens of pupils in an attack last month, state officials said on Friday.

Security officials said Boko Haram had shot or burnt to death at least 29 pupils in a boarding school in North East Nigeria. A journalist, who counted bodies in the morgue after the attack, put the figure at 59.

The failure of the military to protect civilians is fueling anger in the North East, although state security officials have claimed some recent successes, including killing several militants as they tried to escape from a prison in Maiduguri this month.

source: Daily Newswatch 

Syria - Regime's barrel bombs terrorizing residential areas of Aleppo!

New satellite imagery, videos and eyewitness accounts reveal an alleged  indiscriminate nature of the government’s large-scale air campaign on opposition-held parts of Aleppo since November 2013. 



The attacks on populated areas in Aleppo and its countryside continue despite a UN Security Council resolution on February 22, 2014, demanding all parties cease “indiscriminate employment of weapons in populated areas, including shelling and aerial bombardment, such as the use of barrel bombs.”

Like R.I mentioned on one of our Syrian war stories: ..It takes only a few years to destroy, but it will take years, even centuries to build not just properties destroyed, but lives that have been shattered.....It is high time the Assad regime and oppositions reconsider their stands, for the sake of the continuous existence of the Syrian nation.

US reinforce troops in Hunt for Ugandan Warlord Joseph Kony!

Information reaching our news desk confirms that the United States President Barack Obama has stepped up efforts to capture Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony.

Kony is believed to be  the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, which is accused by the United Nations and Human Right groups of killing and mutilating innocent civilians and kidnapping thousands of children, forcing them to be soldiers and sex slaves.

It was revealed that Obama dispatched military aircraft to the central African nation to help track the brutal warlord, with several CV-22 Osprey aircraft arriving in the troubled country by the middle of the week.

According to the Washington Post, the White House began notified Congressional leaders about the plan on Sunday night.

Officials emphasized that the Ospreys 'will be used for troop transport and that the rules of engagement for U.S. forces remain the same as for about 100 Special Operations troops that Obama first sent to help find Kony in October 2011,' the paper reports.

It was gathered that U.S. military personnel will be allowed to 'provide information, advice and assistance' to an African Union military task force responsible for tracking Kony and the LRA.

U.S. forces are equally authorized to track Kony and his forces across Uganda, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Congo. 

The U.S. soldiers are however, not authorized to engage the LRA unless it is in self-defense. The number of U.S. forces who will be a part of the operation to track Kony are unlikely to exceed 300.