Yusuf Onimisi, Abuja boko - haram jail break twitter released!

Remember Yusuf Siyaka Onimisi, the young man arrested for twitting boko haram jail break in Abuja; has been released.

“Yes, Yusuf Onimisi has been released. His younger brother, Sanusi Onimisi, a student at Bayero University in Kano, spoke to him by telephone earlier today,” the family friend, Frank Edohor said.

“We still do not have the details surrounding his release but he (Yusuf Onimisi) is in Abuja after his release and he is ok,” added Edohor.

The case sparked concern from human rights groups, with Amnesty International urging the Nigerian security forces to disclose Onimisi’s whereabouts on 12 April.

The 32-year old who works for Nigeria’s national electricity firm and was assigned to a sub-station within the presidential compound in Abuja near the Directorate of State Services (DSS) headquarters where the agency said there was an attempted jail break on 30 March, sparking a gun battle that killed 21 detainees.

Reports suggested Boko Haram militants were among the detainees trying to escape, but there has been no official confirmation of the group’s involvement.

Nigeria’s security forces, including the secret police, have frequently cited national security concerns to justify arresting people who publish sensitive material.

However, DSS spokeswoman Marylin Ogar did not respond to phone calls seeking comment on Onimisi.

SSS personnels arrests and detains twitter of boko haram jail break!

According to Sahara Reporters, a young man pictured below and identified as Yusuf Isiaka, with Twitter handle Ciaxon, who tweeted photos of the recent Boko Haram jailbreak, was allegedly  beaten by security guards and dragged away.

News surfaced recently that he was arrested and currently being detained by the Department of State Security Services (SSS) in Abuja.

Isiaka was the major source of news stories for the jailbreak, which occurred on March 30, as he shared live pictures of the incident as it was unfolding and gave updates as to what was going on.

Yussuf is said to be a member of staff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria working at a branch in the environs of the state house and the SSS headquarters.

Sahara reports that:

Yussuf, whose last was given as Isiaka is an Igbira from Kogi state. He was arrested soon after his tweets, and has not been seen since then.

The eyewitnesses say he had worked the night shift the night before at a PHCN substation near the Presidential Villa as an engineer, and was waiting for his colleagues to arrive for work that morning so he could go home, when the security incident occurred.

Yusuf is said to be widely-known in the area, and to be a friend to most of the DSS and military intelligence personnel who take shifts at the Gate-7. Our sources say they all normally interact and share jokes as there is hardly any activity or threat in that neighbourhood. Gate-7 is rarely in use. 

Ironically, it was the same friends who handed him over when one of the security personnel received a call informing him of pictures of the attack appearing online, leading to questions as to how the picture went viral while the shooting was ongoing. 

Yusuf was reportedly handed over to a security team, which descended on him with punches and gun butts before taking him into a nearby building. Yussuf is also said to have witnessed the summary killing of two Boko Haram boys who were caught in the bush behind the DSS building. Both boys, who only spoke Kanuri, were reportedly executed on the spot after they had surrendered.

The source expressed surprise only Yusuf was arrested, as some of the security personnel also took pictures. Meanwhile, his Toyota Camry car is still parked in the PHCN compound at DSS/State House Gate-7 as friends express fear that he might have been killed or seriously injured.

Nigerian secret service agents, the ball is now in your court to respond allegations....

Woman throws shoe at Hillary Clinton!

An yet to be identified middle-aged blonde woman was taken into custody after throwing what she described as a shoe at Hillary Clinton during a Las Vegas speech.

The incident happened moments after Clinton took the stage Thursday at an Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries meeting at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino.

Clinton ducked but did not appear to be hit by the object, and then joked about the incident.

'Is that somebody throwing something at me?' Clinton asked, according to the Review-Journal. 'Is that part of Cirque du Soleil?'

Security ushered out a woman who said she threw a shoe but didn't identify herself to reporters or explain the action.

Many in the audience of more than 1,000 people in a large ballroom laughed and applauded as Clinton resumed her speech.

'My goodness, I didn't know that solid waste management was so controversial,' Clinton said. 'Thank goodness she didn't play softball like I did.'

Brian Spellacy, U.S. Secret Service supervisory special agent in Las Vegas, said the woman was being questioned and would face criminal charges. Spellacy declined to identify the woman, and he said it wasn't immediately clear what the charges would be.

A black and orange shoe was recovered from the stage, Spellacy said.

In the hotel hallway, the woman sat calmly on a sofa, wearing a blue dress and thong sandals. She said she threw a shoe and dropped some papers, but didn't identify herself to reporters or explain the action. Security officials then ushered reporters and photographers away.

Spellacy and Mark Carpenter, spokesman for the recycling institute, said the woman wasn't a credentialed convention member and wasn't supposed to have been in the ballroom.

After her speech, Clinton answered questions posed by Jerry Simms, the outgoing chairman of the organization. Simms first offered what he called a 'deepest apology for that crude interruption.'

Clinton answered questions broadly, saying she felt politics today leads people to 'do what they think will be rewarded.'

It was gathered that an attendee handed a reporter a piece of paper that was apparently thrown by the woman. It appeared to be a copy of a Department of Defense document labeled confidential and dated August 1967; it referred to an operation 'Cynthia' in Bolivia.

Akwa Ibom Police summon four journalists!

Information reaching our news desk reveals that the Investigations and Intelligence bureau of the Nigerian Police in Akwa Ibom state, has summoned four local journalists regarded as critical of the state government.

According to reports, the four journalists invited are publishers of The Guide, The Ink, Global Concord and The Radar.

A letter signed by a Superintendent of Police in the state, Joseph Udoh, stated that the four journalists have remained unrepentant of their critical disposition towards the state government. They were asked to treat the invitation as important.

“In view of the political atmosphere in the country, and the role the press has to play in our day to day life and the forthcoming 2015 general election, it has become expedient for us to have a chat together,” the letter inviting the journalists stated.

“To this end, therefore, you are invited to a round table chat with the officer in charge of then state intelligence bureau, state police headquarters, Ikot Akpan Abia on Thursday, 10th April 2014 by 10 a.m.

Please, treat this invitation as important. Accept our high esteem as we partner to make Akwa Ibom State peaceful, safe and secure.”

However, it was gathered that the State Commissioner for Information, Aniekan Umanah, did not pick calls to his phone when a reporter called to verify the situation, He also did not respond to text messages.

Gunmen kill 10, burn 20 houses in Taraba!

The Police Command in Taraba has confirmed that gunmen on Tuesday killed 10 people in Jibu village in Wukari Local Government Area of the state.

According to Punch newspapars, the Police spokesman, ASP Joseph Kwaji, told newsmen in Jalingo that the suspected assailants also burnt more than 20 houses.

“Yes, I can confirm to you that at about 5 a.m. today, a group of Jukun youths stormed Jibu village, opened fire at the inhabitants and killed 10 people,” he said.

According to him, the suspected gunmen killed every one they saw in the area irrespective of the person’s ethnicity and region, including Jukuns.

“I can also confirm to you that 15 people are badly injured and about 20 houses were set ablaze,” he said.

Kwaji, however, disclosed that a joint patrol of Mobile police and military had been deployed to intensify security in the area.

The spokesman, therefore, appealed to people in the area to stay calm, saying security personnel were on top of the situation.

He assured members of the community that the perpetrators of ‘this dastardly act’ would be brought to book.

Prince Charming George at New Zealand playgroup on his first official engagement!

Prince George undertook his first royal crawl-about as he attended a parent and baby group with his mama and dada. 

The eight-month-old was brought along by his clearly proud parents, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, to the ‘playdate’ organised by The Royal New Zealand Plunket Society at Government House in Wellington.

Following his scene-stealing appearance on Monday when the family arrived in New Zealand to begin their three week tour Down Under, all eyes were on the future king as he was introduced to ten babies born within a few weeks of his own birthday, on July 22 2013.

It was the first time that the third in line to the throne had undertaken a public duty – of sorts. But it clearly won’t be the first, in what will be a lifetime of royal service.

Army, Boko Haram Working Together in Parts of Nigeria?!

 

A Nigerian soldier reportedly said he witnessed incidents that suggest some Nigerian military commanders are working with Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group blamed for thousands of deaths since 2009.

In an exclusive interview with VOA's Hausa service, he described how his military unit, based in the northeastern Borno State region, was ambushed by Boko Haram fighters.

The soldier, who did not want to be identified, said the commander of a nearby military unit, based in the town of Bama, recently sought assistance from his unit in carrying out a raid.

The soldier said when the two military units joined up, they were given different uniforms. The Bama unit commander gave his own troops green uniforms. The soldier said his unit received tan "desert camouflage" uniforms.

When the troops reached the battle area, the soldier said the commander of the better-equipped Bama unit suddenly withdrew his forces, leaving the remaining troops to fend for themselves against Boko Haram fighters.

Speaking in Hausa, he said, "We had only light arms and our men were being picked off one after the other."
The soldier also said he recognized some of the Boko Haram fighters as his former military trainers in Kontagora, a town near the capital, Abuja.
"We realized that some of them were actually mercenaries from the Nigerian army... hired to fight us," he said.

This soldier and others have said that too often, commanders have pocketed money that was supposed to be used to help equip units.

VOA has made repeated attempts to get reaction from the Nigerian government for this story but no officials have been willing to speak on the record.

However, in a January 2012 speech, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said Boko Haram members have infiltrated his government's executive, legislative and judicial sectors, as well as the police and armed forces.

Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in three northern regions where Boko Haram is active, and launched operations to destroy the group's camps. Despite those efforts, though, large-scale attacks have continued.

Atlantic Council Africa Center Director Peter Pham said the soldier's account could have merit.

 "It certainly would not surprise me that it is happening," said Pham.

Pham said the goal should be to figure out how and why collaboration between military officers and terror groups could happen.

"What’s critical is to understand, if there is this collusion, to understand whether it is a collusion born of corruption, born of desperation simply to avoid combat that would result in casualties for the men under your command, or if it is born of ideological sympathy with the insurgents," he said.

Apart from some well-trained elite units, Pham said most of Nigeria's military is "woefully underfunded and under-resourced" in terms of equipment and training.
Deputy director of the International Crisis Group's Africa program E.J. Hogendoorn,  said Nigeria's military disfunction is part of a broader problem of systemic corruption extending through most government sectors.

Hogendoorn says "drivers," such as bad governance and the inability of state institutions to provide basic services, help create a pool of unemployed youth "ripe for radicalization."

"We argue that even were Boko Haram to be defeated, if you don’t deal with those drivers, you are not going to be able to stabilize either northern Nigeria or the entire country," he said.

Hogendoorn said in order for change to occur, the Nigerian government needs to address corruption and poor governance in a systematic and sustained way.

culled.