IBB has been our pillar – Abiola’s family

By CLIFFORD NDUJIHE & DAUD OLATUNJI
LAGOS —TWENTY years after the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential elections presumably won by late business tycoon, Chief M.K.O Abiola, the Head of Abiola family, Mubashiru, yesterday, exonerated former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida from the complicity that led to the death of Abiola in government’s custody. Rather, he said that Babangida, who annulled the election, had been a pillar of support to the Abiola family since the business mogul died in detention on July 7, 1998.
Mubashiru, M.K.O Abiola’s younger brother spoke at Abiola’s Oja-Agbo family house in Abeokuta during the 2013 June12 democracy walk organized by the Ogun State Government.
The disclosure came on a day that President Goodluck Jonathan said that ‘June 12’ had changed the history of the country for good as leading politicians, activists and groups at different events to commemorate the 20th anniversary of June 12 lamented that little or no improvement in the welfare of Nigerians had been achieved since 1993, adding that poverty among the citizenry had worsened.

JUNE 12 RALLY: Comrade Rex Anighoro, Spokesman of NDPSF, addressing members of Niger Delta People Salvation Front, NDPSF, during a rally yesterday in Warri in commemoration of the annulled June 12 election.
Photo: AKPOKONA OMAFUAIRE.

Meantime, the Federal Government said, yesterday, that it was ready to immortalise Abiola and urged Nigerians to come up with suggestions on how best to honour the late politician. The government’s effort to name the University of Lagos after Abiola last year hit a brick wall with opposition from stakeholders and students of the institution.
Mubashiru, who in an interview with newsmen in Abeokuta appealed to the Federal Government to pay the debt it was owing Abiola, said Babangida‘s support  to the Abiola family was unparalleled after the death of their bread winner, saying, the family believed strongly that, it was not possible for the General to kill his former friend.
He said: “Babangida did anything we wanted in this family. Unless he did not know, he would come. He has been supporting this family. He always supports the family. There was a time Abiola’s daughter was wedding, Babangida was here with his wife right away from Minna, sat down with us; he left his wife to stay with us till the second day. She slept in M K O’s house till the second day.
“That is the major reason why I will always support him and I don’t believe that Babangida was the one that killed M KO, no. That is capital no. Everybody knew that Babangida was not in the government when M KO died. How could you say that somebody who was not there did something? It is not possible. Babangida does not know anything about the death of M.K.O.”
Delivering a speech on behalf of the family, Mubashiru described IBB’s regime as the best urging current governments at all levels to embrace the vision of June 12 by ensuring good governance.
“I want to state unequivocally that General Babangida’s administration remains the best ever in the nation’s history and I implore our current administrators at various levels of governance to embrace the vision of June 12, by ensuring that every Nigerian family gets food on their table and shelters on their heads, all employable youths get jobs while the nooks and crannies of the Federation enjoy basic amenities.”

Pay your debt to Abiola’s family

Appealing to the Federal Government to pay the money it owes the Abiola family, he said: “I also want to thank the President Goodluck Jonathan, for what the Federal Government ought to have done for the family, but was yet to be done. I take advantage of today’s 20th anniversary of June 12, to request President Jonathan to invite Abiola’s family to a meeting to deliberate on how the Federal Government intends to settle the long standing debts owed that political icon, business mogul and symbol of our modern day democracy.”

How June 12 changed our history – Jonathan

Speaking shortly after inaugurating the chairman and members of the re-constituted Police Service Commission, President Jonathan said June 12 was a unique day in the nation. He said although the Federal Government was yet to recognize the day as a public holiday, some state governments had done so. There have been calls from prominent Nigerians urging the Federal Government to recognize June 12 as the nation’s Democracy Day as against May 29.
Prominent Nigerians, who honoured Abiola and urged government to pursue policies that would provide basic amenities and eradicate poverty, were former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Governors Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo); former Abia State Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu; Founder of the Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, Dr Frederick Fasehun; former Governor of Ogun State, Aremo Segun Osoba; Convener of Save Nigeria Group (SNG), Dr Tunde Bakare; Chief Frank Kokori and Femi Falana (SAN).
Others include Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Ayo Opadokun, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, President of Nigeria Guild of Editors, Femi Adesina; Mr Abdul Oroh, Abiola’s first son, Kola; Dr Joe Okei-Odumakin, Ms Ann Kio-Briggs, Jimi Agbaje, Mrs Modupe Adelaja and Hon Dino Melaye.

Nigeria worse in 2013 than 1993 – Bakare

At Democracy Audit organized by the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos to mark June 12, Convener of the group, Dr Tunde Bakare, said since the historic election, Nigeria had remained impoverished and the problems Abiola promised to tackle remain unsolved.
He spoke as Information Minister, Labaran Maku, who attended the event countered that some improvement even though little had been made and said the government was ready to immortalize Abiola.
In a speech entitled: “From Hope ‘93 to 2013: How Far Has Democracy Brought Nigeria?” Bakare said though some gains like freedom of speech had been recorded, they were not enough as the problems of poverty and flawed elections among others persist.
He urged the government to immortalise Abiola by naming edifices like the National Stadium after him.
His words:  “The 1993 MKO Abiola vs. Bashir Tofa election, conducted exactly 20 years ago today, is popularly termed the freest and fairest in the history of Nigeria. It was Nigeria’s first taste of a renascent democracy after so many years of military rule, coups and counter-coups. It was an election whose callous annulment shook the nation. Since then, the country has witnessed a lot of changes – for better, and for worse. However, none of those occurrences have left the country exactly the same…”

Some mileage has been recorded – Maku

Speaking at the event Maku said that government was making progress in the areas of power supply by commencing the building of 10 power plants, stopped fertilizer racketeering to boost agriculture, delivered 32 roads in 2012, saved N118 billion from ghost workers among others and urged the citizenry to support the government in its effort to develop the country.
Arguing that President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration has achieved in some areas, Maku cited Power, Agriculture, Education and Transportation as major areas, government has fared well two years after assuming office.
Asked if FG had any plan to give M.K.O a post-humous honour, Maku disclosed that government was interested in immortalizing him. He said: “History will continue to immortalize Abiola, because he died fighting the cause for true democracy, which we are all enjoying today. I can say that the fact that I’m here today, representing the government, we are still looking at better ways to immortalize him, even though, there was public outcry when President Jonathan renamed the University of Lagos after M.KO.”

Privatization of power, not good for Nigeria — Kola Abiola

Son of the late M.K.O Abiola, Kola Abiola, however, faulted FG’s stance that the privatization of Nigeria’s power sector was key to stable power supply in the country. He said: “The idea of privatizing power is not a good idea for Nigeria. If power is privatized, how can the 90 per cent and 70 per cent of Nigerians who live below $2 and $1 per day respectively, afford it? It will only be meant for the rich,” insisting that government must guarantee the citizen some basis things before privatization.

June 12 Movement seeks national dialogue

Eminent Nigerians and leaders of thought, who gathered at a special assembly hosted by the June 12 Movement in conjunction with Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) have decided to commence massive mobilization across the nation for the convocation of a national dialogue to resolve the crises in the country.
At a solemn assembly at the Ikeja, Lagos residence of Chief MKO Abiola, the leaders according to a  communiqué signed by the National Coordinator, Mr. Olawale Okunniyi said they took this position in the light of subsisting emergency and insecurity in the country orchestrated by the Boko Haram insurgency in the North and youth militancy in the South.
The August gathering which include Chief Ayo Adebanjo who chaired the assembly, Chief Solomon Asemota (SAN), Speaker of Lagos State House Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji; Governor of Akwa Ibom, represented by his Commissioner for Information, Mr Aniekan Umanah; Hon Abike Dabiri Erewa, Alhaji Shettimah Yerima, Hon Adijat Oladapo Adeleye, Dr Keziah Awosika of PRONACO; Mr Lekan Abiola, son of MKO Abiola; Alhaja Aminat Irawo and Mr Mohammed Fawehinmi among others decided to further engage the government in bringing about a negotiated settlement before the end of the year.

Tinubu, Fashola, others advocate rejection of impunity
Also, former Governor of Lagos state, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his predecessor, Babatunde Fashola and Professor Olarenwaju Fagbohun and some elder statesmen and human rights activists called on Nigerians to reject the culture of impunity on law and order to deepen the country’s democracy.

They spoke at the event co-organised by June 12 Coalition of Democratic Formations, held at LTV ground, Agidingbi, Ikeja, with theme: ‘Electoral system: The bane of political instability in Nigeria,’ which was chaired by former administrator of Lagos State, Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu (rtd).
Tinubu, who was represented by the Secretary of National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, Chief Ayo Opadokun, lamented that 14 years after the country returned to democracy, Nigeria was still crawling rather than walking.

Make June 12 a national day – Mimiko

Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to elevate June 12 to a pan Nigerian event.
He spoke at a symposium organised by the state government in Akure to mark the 20th anniversary of the annulled 1993 election, the governor said that MKO Abiola represents the totality of Nigerians to make a change and submitted that the June 12 victory was a pan Nigerian mandate.

Nigeria could disintegrate in months, Kalu warns

Erstwhile governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu, warned that Nigeria could disintegrate within months well ahead of the 2015 doomsday prophesy on account of increasing disaffection in the polity.
In a lecture marking the 20th anniversary of the June 12, 1993 presidential election delivered in Lagos yesterday, Kalu nevertheless gave options for the country to survive disintegration among which were social justice and a workable electoral system.
In the lecture delivered at the behest of the Odua Peoples Congress, OPC, he called for all elections to be conducted the same day.
Regretting the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and the possible honour it could have brought to the rulers at that time, he said: “That election could have positioned the then military president, Gen Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) as the authentic Nigerian hero, celebrated at home and abroad, but alas, the election was voided, and it threatened the fabric that held us together as a country.”

Stop lamenting, Osoba, Falana, Kokori, others tell Nigerians

Leading politicians, and eminent persons who attended a similar event organized by the Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, Lagos State Council, called on Nigerians to stop reducing every anniversary of the annulment of June 12 presidential election to a day of lamentation.
They also regretted that the progressive camp failed to have a political platform, noting that June 12 would always be celebrated in Nigeria.
The Guest Speaker, Kokori, who spoke on theme; ‘Post June 12: The Good and the Bad’, took a swipe at the Judiciary and other sections of the society for alleg edly betraying the struggle for a truly democratic nation.
His words: “Celebrating June 12 is celebrating a generation of Nigerians who sacrificed themselves for the democratization of Nigerians.
“In December, when I will be 70, I will release my memoir in which I have named 50 heroes of the struggle whose names must not be missing in the honours list. It is saddening to know that most Nigerians have lost consciousness of the significance of June 12; we must know that June 12 is very significant.”
Similarly, Osoba said,  “I am writing a book on that period; we at NADECO made the mistake of not having a political wing like the IRA in Northern Ireland. If Tinubu had listened to our leaders who did not want us to participate in the transition programme, he would have remained in America and he would not have been a governor. We have learnt our mistake. It is not worthwhile that the civil society should continue to lament bad governance 20 years after. I want the civil society to support the emerging political platform of progressives in the country.
Falana, who drew much applause from the audience, extolled the role played by the media in those days, naming such media houses as The News, Tempo, Tell, The Guardian, Vanguard and others.  He noted that a number of journalists lost their lives in the struggle while many were imprisoned and tortured.

Fasehun berates Tofa for belittling June 12

Founder and President of Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, Dr. Frederick Fasehun berated Alhaji Bashir Tofa, the presidential candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC), who contested against Abiola in the June 12, 1993 election for attempting to rubbish and belittle the June 12 historical event.
Fasehun stated this at a press conference in Lagos in commemoration of June 12.
Last week Tofa said June12 was dead and should be forgotten.
The OPC leader stated that when someone in the calibre of Tofa, attempts to belittle that historical event, then Nigeria was in trouble.  “A foreigner may ask us to forget June 12 and he will be forgiven. A child may ask us to forget June 12 and he will be forgiven. A dim-wit may ask us to forget June 12 and he will be forgiven. However, when someone in the calibre of Alhaji Bashir Tofa, Presidential Candidate of the National Republican Convention (NRC), and Abiola’s opponent in the 1993 election, attempts to rubbish and belittle that historical event, then Nigeria is in trouble,” he said.

Why we prefer live human beings – Suspected parts dealer

By Evelyn Usman
LAGOS — Operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS, Ikeja have arrested three fleeing members of a syndicate who allegedly specialized in selling live  humans and decomposing human parts for money rituals.
Their arrest came barely three weeks after some of their  members were paraded at the Lagos State Police Command, where they confessed to have sold live human beings for N40,000, hands—N4,000 and head—N8,000.
Those recently arrested are Gazali Akewadola (60), the native doctor  who allegedly offered N40,000 for a live human being, Alfa Taofeek Akinola  (35) and Kazeem Sanni (25).

The suspects

To the bewilderment of all, Gazali confessed that live human beings were cheaper than buying dead human parts, saying all parts of a live human being are vital in the preparation of money ritual.
For instance, he said a life human being was bought for N40,000, “but at the end of the day, you get a lot of  expensive parts  from it. Aside that, it is even more potent  because the efficacy of the charm or concoction  prepared with live human parts cannot be compared with the ones prepared with dead parts.
“When a life human being is killed, one will get fresh blood which is used in preparing some charms. The same body will also give you hairs from private part, head and some  mustache which are used for other ritual purposes. The private part is also very useful for the preparation of effective concoction. The head,flesh intestines, liver, heart, eyes, lips and tongues can be used for pepper soup which is usually very delicious than that of animal meat. I usually take the pepper soup so as to assure those who patronize us that it is not harmful. It also fortifies one spiritually.
“If you buy a full human being for N30,000 or N40,000 and pieces it, you will end up getting N100,000 or more because you will get more than 10 parts that will yield more money for you.”
Gazali who hails from Folahan, Ado-Odo in Owode Yewa Local Government Area of Ogun State, further said: “I am an Islamic teacher and a cleric. I own an Islamic school in Owode Yewa. I am also married with eight  children. I am also a native doctor. I cure people of  their ailments and help those who want to get rich quick, by using human parts to prepare charms and concoctions for them.
We use soft bones to cure epilepsy
“Most of the human parts I bought were sold to me by  Kazeem Sanni.  He used to sell dead human head between N3,000 and N8000, depending on the market price. The soft bones that can easily be grinded into powder are very cheap. It is just for  N1,000. It is used to cure ailments like epilepsy.”
Asked why he did not use any of his children since he has eight of them, he said that would reduce the potency of the ritual concoction, adding that its potency depended solely on strangers being used. He said their victims were usually abducted from Lagos State and beyond, with the use of charms.
He further disclosed that  aside the N40,000 paid to Sanni to get him a live human being, he gave him another N5,000 and a charm to hypnotize the male victims. But he said the plan almost failed as Sanni was almost caught. He, however, expressed regrets that despite the use of human parts to make other people rich, he ended up not only being poor but arrested along the line.

Money ritual charm changed my level

The second suspect, Alfa Taofeek, who is also an indigene of Owode Yewa in Ogun State confessed to have bought a human head from the third suspect, Kazeem, which he grinded and mixed with local gin.
According to him, “it was to enable me get rich. I am a Muslim cleric and I have been making people rich through this means but became jealous at a point and decided to get rich as well, since I was unable to get enough money from my clients.
“After drinking the concoction prepared with a human head, I got more customers and made more money. I even threw parties on a monthly basis to celebrate my new level.
“I also used part of the money to sponsor the graduation ceremony of some of my students in the Islamic school known as Alfa Taofeek Islamic School, at Owode Yewa.”

Customs officers lured me into money rituals

On his part, the third suspect, Kazeem Sanni, claimed to have opted for the money ritual business due to frustration from Customs men.
He said: “At a point, business was no longer moving because Customs men at the border were always seizing the goods, at the end of which their owners would force me to pay for them. I became frustrated even contemplated selling my father’s landed property. I decided to consult Alfa Taokeek Akinola to find out the cause of my predicament. He instructed me to get a human head in order to be rich. After that, he requested a live human being. I attempted kidnapping someone so that I can cut off his head but it was not possible. He then instructed me to exhume dead body from the graves which I did and got him three at the rate of N3,000 each.”
Their arrest, as explained by spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Braide, was in compliance with the Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko’s directive to SARS  Commander, Abba Kyari, to get the fleeing suspects, after the arrest  of three members of the syndicate on May 15, 2013, with human parts.

Mandela’s co-accused marks 49 years since life sentence

 
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – As Nelson Mandela spent a fifth day in hospital Wednesday, one of his anti-apartheid comrades recalled the day exactly 49 years ago when they were sentenced to life imprisonment by the apartheid regime.
Mandela’s co-accused Andrew Mlangeni, 87, remembers June 12, 1964, the day of their sentencing, “like yesterday.”
“It is still so clear,” he told AFP, it was a “turning point in the history of South Africa.”
“On that day Mandela accepted his fate and made it clear that he was prepared to die” for the struggle to empower non-white South Africans.
Mlangeni, and a half dozen others, had been arrested almost a year earlier on a farm in Rivonia, north of Johannesburg, during a police raid.
Mandela was already in custody, but Liliesleaf, as the farm was known, was a meeting place for activists plotting against the regime.
It was also the headquarters of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC and crucially for Mandela, where he left his diary.
After being convicted by the Pretoria court on June 11, eight men reappeared in the dock to hear their sentence, with some, including Mandela, expecting to hang.
But instead Mandela and seven other anti-apartheid activists were sentenced to life imprisonment.
“As a top suspect, we expected Mandela to get a stiff sentence, but a life sentence still came as a shock,” said Mlangeni who was to himself spend 26 years on Robben Island prison.
“The mood was that of acceptance,” he said, adding that Mandela took the sentence in his stride.
Mlangeni acknowledged the pressure piled on the apartheid regime by the international community likely helped to avoid the death sentence.
“I think they relented. After all they didn’t want us to become the martyrs of the black struggle.”
Ten men initially stood trial. Eight of them were convicted including Mandela, Mlangeni, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada, Govan Mbeki, Denis Goldberg, Raymond Mhlaba and Elias Motsoaledi.
Only Goldberg, who was white, was not sent to Robben Island.
But the trial was, in the words of the Mandela Centre of Memory, “arguably the most significant political trial in South African history”.
During his defence, instead of responding to the charges, Mandela chose to make speech that was to electrify the courtroom, South Africa and the world.
It ended with the words: “I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.”
“It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
The speech was to become the manifesto of the anti-apartheid movement.
“Mandela’s speech on the dock was not only directed to the South African white rulers. He addressed the entire world,” said Political analyst Zamikhaya Maseti.
“He managed to get the attention of the world before disappearing for decades,” he added.
But the sentencing also had a “demobilising effect” on the anti-apartheid struggle.
“The imprisonment of leaders like Mandela, Sisulu and Mbeki created a leadership vacuum,” said Maseti.
Mandela and others were flown to Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town on a military aircraft.
He spent 18 of his 27 years in prison on the island.
On February 11, 1990 he walked free from a Paarl prison just outside Cape Town where he was later moved, to lead political negotiations that paved the way for the country’s first democratic elections in 1994.
The elections saw him elected the country’s first black president, a job he held for a single four-year term.
Today only Mlangeni, Goldberg, Kathrada and Mandela survive.

FG dialogues with 104 Boko Haram suspects

Lagos – The Federal Government on Thursday began dialogue with the 104 Boko Haram suspects being detained in Lagos prisons.
The Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Tanimu, and Chairman, Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, led the committee members to the meeting.
Tanimu told newsmen after the meeting that the visit was aimed at interacting with the suspects and chart a new way forward.
“We came here basically to have interaction with people detained in connection with acts relating to terrorism.

“We have interacted and spoken to them and they responded very sincerely and frankly, and I think I can say that we were well informed about most of the things they were interested in.
“For now, we are more concerned with the release of vulnerable people and those not pinned down by the security agencies.
“We have seen those the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPR) advised for release.
“We have not seen any woman or child here, but even at that, I am sure the committee will make appropriate  recommendations as far as the issue of their release is concerned.
“We have interacted with stakeholders. We have been informed and we have been given advices that will help in making our recommendation to government.
“I can assure you that the committee is on top of the situation as far as dialogue is concerned. We have no serious challenges at the moment.” (NAN)

Pictures: Tonto Dikeh rocking in traditional attire

Check out our own Tontolet rocking in new pictures, She is really looking Dakpa on the Traditional attire, wow the make-up credits goes to Joyce Jacob Beauty..

Omotola Blasts FG For Mistreating Nigerians

Top actress Omotola Ekeinde took to twitter some hours ago to voice out her displeasure at the way Nigerians are being governed. She was really angry..let's hope the right officials get to see this...see tweets when you continue..


 



I think it's hard time all this fake leaders lives power because they are really using this opportunity to make the minority suffer so much in this country, imposing unnecessary bills on the people, Omosexy you are on point.... -

Family of Madonna Univeristy fire victim speak out

On Saturday June 8th, a room at Saint Peters boys hostel in the Okija campus of Madonna University, Anambra State, was gutted by fire, killing one student.

The family of the dead student, Chigozie Orluwehuje, (pictured above) just sent me something to publish so people can know what's happening with the case. See it below...

On the 8^th of June 2013 at about 4pm the news of the fire incident got to the hearing of the mother Mrs Norra Orluwehuje and other family members by a student who happened to be a friend of  Chigozie Orluwehuje, crying that the boy was one of the four that were engulfed in fire outbreak in the school hostel. The mother plus few of his relatives while on their way to school enquired of the news in the Elele campus and were directed to see one Father Francis who gave no listening ear to them according to a Rev. sister but asked us to enquire about anything in the information Centre in the school. The information center of the school openly told us that they knew nothing as at the time of the enquiry. They also refused to contact the Okija campus as to know the situation before embarking on the journey to Anambra state where the school is located.

On Sunday the 9^th of June 2013 we went down to the school Madonna University Okija to ascertain what really happened.  The CSO who took us to the Hostel and the boy’s room told them that the victims worked out from the hostel themselves mean while they got to the hospital and saw that they were all in coma. The CSO also confessed to us that the victims including Chigozie Orluwehuje who happened to be the hostel Rep. padlocked themselves from outside their room which was not possible because their room is in the third floor of the hostel. We interviewed some of the students who said they never would like names mentioned testified that the school authorities didn’t care about the victims and there was no first aid and to make it worst when some of the students who tried after rescue to rush them to nearby clinic was told there was no keys to open up the gate as at the point of rescue.

Up till this moment the school authority have not formally or officially informed the family of CHIGOZIE ORLUWEHUJE the death student in the fire incident, what actually happened. No remorse at all.

NANS blames police for death of its Senate President, four others in road accident

The student leaders died on their way to Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State.
The Senate President of the National Association of Nigeria Students, NANS, Donald Onukuagu, and four other students died on Thursday in a ghastly motor accident in Abia State.
The Vice President, National Affairs of NANS, Ahamed Jibril, said on Thursday that the incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday when the victims were on their way to Uyo to meet with protesting students of the University of Uyo.
The statement announced the other victims of the crash as Japhet Duru, AbdulAzeez Kabiru, Jerry Sorcaaa, and Asa Ejiate of Delta state University.
Five others sustained various degrees of injuries and are currently receiving treatment at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, Abia State, Mr. Jibril said.
The student leader claimed that the accident was caused by a barricade put up by officers of the Nigerian Police for stop and search purposes.
Mr. Jibril said the vehicle conveying the student leaders had a head-on collision with another vehicle along Umuhia Road, Abia State, after the police barricade had blocked a section of the road.
The statement also contained a three-day ultimatum to the Inspector General of
Police to provide the police officers responsible for the barricade or face a major NANS action.

58,000 Nigerians Killed Outside The Law Since 1999 - International Society For Civil Liberties & The Rule Of Law

International Public Statement By International Society For Civil Liberties & The Rule Of Law (Intersociety) How Nigeria Murdered Democracy Since 1999 & Kept June 12 Alive
(Washington DC, USA, June 11, 2013)-Firstly, the International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law, Nigeria; ably represented here in Washington DC, USA, by Comrade Emeka Umeagbalasi, wishes to appreciate, deeply, the invitation of its Chairman of the Board by the US Department of State, to participate in the internationally respected and prestigious International Visitor(s) Leadership Program for NGO Management in USA & related others.

We appreciate, commend and congratulate the Department of State of the United States and Its officials, distinguished members of the ECA/PE/R/Vand the FHI-360 Project teams, respected and reputable IVLP colleagues and all other institutions and persons involved directly or indirectly in the ennobled program scheduled to cover the US States and Cities ranging from Washington and Washington DC; Seattle, Louisville, Kentucky; Huntington and Birmingham, Alabama; East Lansing, Michigan; St. Louis, Missouri; to Denver, Colorado. We wish all the participants in the program and its organizers huge successes at the end. The program was opened on Monday, June 10 and expected to end on June 29.

The leadership of Intersociety celebrates the nomination of its Chairman of the Board, Emeka Umeagbalasi as the only Nigerian nominated to join other 23 international personalities drawn from twenty-four countries around the world including Russia, UK, India, Mexico, China, Costa Rica, Romania and Italy. Our Beloved Country(Nigeria) As Murderer Of Democracy, Civil Liberties & The Rule Of Law: Nigeria; a country of approximately 160million to 170 million people with 923,000 square kilometers of landmass; 3,500 kilometers of railways; 8,600 kilometers of inland waterways; 22 airports- both domestic and international; 17% of African population; 9.2% of African landmass; 2.5% of the world population; highest populated black country on earth; 3.5% of the world landmass; roughly two times the size of State of Alaska in USA in terms of landmass; and 198,000 kilometers of federal, states and local governments’ road network; blessed with abundant human and material resources ( with over 33 solid mineral deposits), has been caught up in a crossfire of social, economic and political crises particularly since her return to civil rule in 1999; a period of 14 years and 12 days.

Though, our beloved country had been in crises since her statehood in 1960, but the present crises came about as a result of the seizure of political power in 1999 by Nigeria’s enemies within- corrupt members of the political class, which included military apologists, advance fee fraudsters and ritual cultists such as “Otokoto” occultist confraternity in Southeast Nigeria. Nigeria is akin to Cambodia of 1975 to 1979 under bloodthirsty “Comrade” Pol Pot. Conversely, in the Union of South Africa, the political activists led by Mr. Nelson Mandela who fought for their country’s independence, foresaw the dangers of abandoning the political leadership in the hands of their country’s “black sheep”.

As a result, they moved in and took control and dogmatized and systematized their country’s political leadership. But in Nigeria, the reverse was the case as her heroes and heroines of democracy struggle stayed away and allowed the criminal political class limitless access to the corridors of power. This marked the beginning of Nigeria’s current social, economic and political woes till date. In this context, therefore, Nigeria’s crises are divided into three major areas of:insecurity & spiraled crime rates; failed governance & economy and failed justice system & deplorable human rights state.

1. Security & Crime:
Security threats and other unsafe conditions have remained Nigeria’s major challenge till date. Our beloved country can best be described as “consociation democracy”- a sort of a democratic country that is highly divided along ethnic, religious and political lines with high incidence of self-help method in respect of inter-personal and inter-group disputes. The mountainous and untamed security threats have converted our beloved country into a death theatre. In December 2011, during the 63rd World Rights Anniversary, we released a report to the effect that since 1999, approximately 54,000 Nigerians were killed outside the law by our beloved country’s malicious citizens operating as “State actors” and “non-state actors”.

See www.intersociety-ng.org (under press releases and newsletters) for the report, captioned: “How 54,000 Nigerians Died outside the Law Since 1999”. The said unlawful deaths arose from Vigilante killings dominant in the Southeast Nigerian States of Anambra and Abia. Others arose from the Police violent crackdown on members of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra-MASSOB; intra-communal and inter-communal conflicts; ethno-religious/sectarian conflicts such as Jos killings and Boko Haram insurgency; election related violence; police custody/pretrial killings; political assassinations/killings; kidnap killings; culpable homicides; and excessive use of force by military/police against Nigeria’s malicious entities and members of the civil populace.

From the report, it was approximated that over 15,000 unlawful deaths arose from vigilante killings. The ethno-religious/sectarian killings including the Boko Haram insurgency accounted for over 16,000 unlawful deaths; police/military unlawful or extra-legal killings accounted for 21,000 deaths; and election violence took over 2,000 lives. Beyond this, the in-depth review of the continued unlawful killings in our beloved country from January to May 2013, showed that more 4000 Nigerians may most likely to have been killed outside the law, between January 2012 and May 2013. The 2011 report covered June 1999 to December 2011. This brings the total number of unlawful deaths in Nigeria since 1999 to approximately 58,000.

For instance, between January and April 2013, over 1000 Nigerians were killed unlawfully by malicious elements within and outside the country’s security forces.The killings according to our public statement of 1stday of May 2013, titled: “Nigeria Is A Death Theatre: How Over 1000 Citizens Were Murdered In Four Months By Malicious Elements”; arose from police custody killings such as Ezu River Killings; ethno-religious/sectarian violence such as Jos killings; and the Boko Haram insurgency. In the area of police pretrial/custody killings, over 200 Nigerians may most likely to have been killed between January and April 2013.

The unlawful killings included over 50 young Nigerian males of the Igbo-Southeast extraction, killed by Anambra State Police SARS in January 2013 and dumped into Ezu River in Awka, Anambra State, Southeast Nigeria (see the Intersociety’s reports, titled:the Return of Anambra’s Killing Fields part 1, 2 & 3 at www.intersociety-ng.org). On the issue of Boko Haram insurgency, over 600 Nigerians have been killed since January 2013. The killings included over 220 citizens killed on 16thand 17th of April, 2013 in the Baga (Borno State, Northeast Nigeria) violent clashes between Boko Haram militant Islamists and the Multi-national Joint Taskforce led by Nigerian security forces in which 2,275 thatched houses were destroyed (HRW May 2013), as well as the killing of over 180 citizens, mostly citizens of Southeast Igbo extraction, on 18th day of March 2013 at the Sabon Gari Luxury Bus Park in Kano State, Northwest Nigeria.

Other unlawful killings that took place between January and April 2013 are the Jos ethno-religious/sectarian violence where over 200 citizens have been killed. In May 2013, alone, up to 200 Nigerians have died in unjustified manners in our beloved country. The May 2013 killings included the death of 90 members of Nigerian security forces on 8th day of May, 2013 in Lafia, Nasarawa State, North-central, Nigeria and the killing of 55 citizens including 22 police officers, 14 prisons officials, two soldiers, 13 Boko Haram insurgents and four civilians (see Intersociety’s letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, titled: “Hausanisation & Islamization Policy In The Nigeria Police Force:

Igbo-Southeast As Endangered Species With The Loss Of Over 2,500 Souls Under Your Excellency’s Administration-Part Two”, dated 13th day of May,2013- www.intersociety-ng.org). Importantly, the killings under reference (58,000 unlawful deaths) did not include those killed in motor accidents. In the five months of 2013 alone, over 300 Nigerians have been killed in motorization mishaps. Between December 19, 2012 and first week of January 2013, according to Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps, 280 Nigerians were killed in road accidents. The Igbo-Southeast region of Nigeria, on her part, has lost over 2,500 of its citizens since 2010 to killers who kill outside the law.

Those killed died in election violence of 2011, Jos violence in North-central Nigeria as well as in several bombs and weapons’ attacks launched by the Boko Haram insurgents in some northern parts of Nigeria. In the Kano Luxury Bus Park bomb attacks of March 18, 2013, for instance, up to 150 of them were killed. The Igbo race is the most unprotected race and targeted victims of hate violence in our beloved country. Between January 2011 and January 2012, the number of citizens of the Igbo-southeast Nigeria killed in Boko Haram insurgency was about 510, out of about 714 Nigerians killed. See our letters to President Goodluck Jonathan, dated 18-1-2012 and 18-5-2013, titled:

“Chilling Killing of 510 Igbo-Nigerian Citizens Amounts to Crimes Against Humanity” and “Hausanization & Islamization Policy in the Nigeria Police Force & Killing of over 2,500 Igbo-Nigerians Since 2010”. They are available at www.intersociety-ng.org. Nigeria has also recorded over 230 unresolved political murders since 1999 (see Intersociety’s report: “How 54,000 Nigerians Died Outside The Law Since 1999”, dated 11-12-2011). These killings outside the law have continued unabated and increased as days go by with impunity. Further, corruption, favoritism, nepotism, ethno-religious division, primordial policing and proliferation of illicit small arms have been identified via researches as major challenges or banes militating against effective policing in our beloved country.

Out of the UN’s recommendation of one police officer for 400 citizens, Nigeria presently maintains about 500 citizens for one police officer with about 371,000 police officers and 6,651 police field formations in her police establishment, policing between 160 million and 170 million populations. Yet our beloved country and her populous citizens are still going through chronic insecurity and other unsafe conditions. A link between police unlawful killing and police corruption in Nigeria has been indisputably established. On 11th day of December, 2011, we released twin reports captioned: “How 54,000 Nigerians Died Outside The Law Since 1999” and “How Nigerian Police Personnel Raked in N53.4Billion ($336.6million) From Nigerian Roadblocks In Three Years-2009-2011” (see www.intersociety-ng.org).

The report on extortion and corruption in the NPF documented and exposed with pictorial pieces of evidence, the use of over 3,500 police roadblocks across Nigeria particularly in the Southeast zone, as an avenue for criminal enrichment and unlawful killings. There were also reports issued by other rights advocacy organizations such as “Rest In Pieces” of the Human Rights Watch, 2005;”Killing At Will” of Amnesty International, 2009; “Criminal Force” of the Open Society Justice Initiative and the Network On Police Reforms In Nigeria-NOPRIN (revised version), 2010; “Everyone’s In The Game” of the Human Rights Watch, 2010; and the US Department of State Reports on the State of Human Rights in Nigeria, of 2009 and 2012.

These credible reports documented and exposed monumental corrupt practices of many police officers in Nigeria, which embolden them to kill Nigerians indiscriminately outside the law with impunity. Though, the reports under reference, particularly our own version of December 2011, have been partly acted upon, which led to drastic reduction in the number of police roadblocks on Nigerian roads and drastic decrease in police roadblock killings since February 2012, but incidences of corruption, nepotism, favoritism, deep ethnic divisions and custody killings are still very high in the Nigeria Police Force.

Promotions and postings in the Force are grossly lopsided and carried out to favour the Hausa-Fulani Muslims as well as the Yoruba Ethnic group of Southwest and North-central Nigeria, while the Igbo ethnic group and other Christian minority tribes of the South-south and northern parts of the country are acutely sidelined( see the Intersociety’s letters to President Goodluck Jonathan, captioned: “Hausanisation & Islamization Policy In The Nigeria Police Force & Related Issues-1 & 2”, dated 06-05-2013 and 13-05-2013 at www.intersociety-ng.org) . The Nigeria Police Force is also haunted by primordial and gun-culture policing.

Its intelligence network has gone moribund. Modern preventive and gadgets’ policing are almost non-existent in its confines. Its crime investigation and prosecution managements are anachronistic and unscientific (see our public statements on Ezu River Killings part 1, 2 & 3, dated: 19-01-2013; 04-03-2013 and 11-03-2013- www.intersociety-ng.org). Proliferation of illicit small arms and their unlawful bearers is another major contributor to insecurity and other unsafe conditions in Nigeria to date. It is the major factor aiding the incompetence and incapacity of the Nigerian security forces led by the Nigeria Police Force in crime prevention and control management.

Our Organization strongly believes that there are presently over 5million illicit small arms in wrong hands in Nigeria (see our public statement of 7th day of November, 2012, captioned: “Focus on Anambra State Of Nigeria: Security & Crime Under Review”- www.intersociety-ng.org). We in theIntersociety-Nigeria see illicit small arms as “illegally acquired technologically manufactured lethal weapons other than weapons of mass destruction, found in wrong hands, ranging from rocket launchers to AK-47 assault rifles, revolver guns and related others”. There are approximately 8,000 to 10,000 unconventionally trained armed vigilante groups operating in Nigeria today, with dominance in Anambra and Abia States in Southeast, Nigeria.

Over 2000 of them are believed to be in the repositories of the two States. Skyrocketing increase in illicit small arms proliferation and their unlawful bearers in Nigeria in recent times is premised on vigilante militancy, political thuggery and brigandage, rise in violent crimes, and the resource control and ethno-religious insurgencies. Politicians remain the largest generators of violence in Nigeria till date. The South-south, Southeast, Northeast, North-west and North-central geopolitical zones of Nigeria are strongly believed to have the largest quantities of illicit small arms in Nigeria today.

In the Southeast zone, Anambra and Abia States run neck to neck as largest bearers of illicit small arms. In the South-south zone, Rivers and Bayelsa States are leading Delta State. In the North-west zone, Kaduna and Kano States are on top. In the Northeast zone, it is Borno State, followed by Yobe, Adamawa and Bauchi States; and in the North-central zone, Plateau State is on top, followed by Benue and Nasarawa States. Though the Southwest zone is relatively free from high concentration of illicit small arms circulating in Nigeria, but Lagos State parades the highest quantity of illicit small arms in private criminals’ hands in the zone. A total of 270 people were killed in the State by violent criminals between first quarter of 2012 and first quarter of 2013 (Lagos State Police Command 2013).

There are over 300,000 of such illicit small arms in Anambra State of Southeast Nigeria alone and over 1000 unconventionally trained armed vigilante groups operating in the State to date. A 2011 UN’s Small Arms Survey, disclosed that out of 875million small arms produced by over 1000 companies in over 100 countries worldwide, Nigeria’s share hovers around 5.95million, 7million and 8million, thereby making her a dominant illicit small arms bearer in West Africa and a major world illicit small arms bearing country. Our beloved country is put in the same category with Yemen and the United States. The Nigeria’s Nation Newspaper of 9th day of March, 2013 reported the arraignment in UK of a Briton, Mr. Gary Hyde, for illegal shipment into Nigeria of 80,000 riffles and pistols and 32million rounds of ammunition.

The illegal shipment included 40,000 AK-47 assault rifles, 30,000 riffles and 10,000 9mm pistols. Caches of weapons have been discovered from left, right and center in Nigeria in recent times. An Iranian was recently convicted by a Nigerian court for similar offence. Nigerian laws responsible for regulating the importation and use of small arms are very weak and outdated. Such laws are the Firearms Act, Cap F28 of 2004, the Private Guards Act of 1986 and the Custom & Excuse Management Act of 2002, etc. The controlling and regulatory agencies in our beloved country are also very corrupt and incompetent.

Failed Economy & Governance:
Nigeria’s public governance and state of economy has been in a sorry state since 1999 despite the abundance of her human and material resources. Over 33 solid minerals abound in the country. With the exception of oil and gas, others have remained at subsistence levels. Our beloved country continues to perform abysmally in every regional and international social indicator; from regional and international universities’ ratings to infant mortality; from high cost of governance to highly indebted poor countries’ status, etc. The incidence of corruption and bad governance has remained alarmingly high in our beloved country and the state of infrastructures including key ones like air and seaports, energy, health facilities, schools, roads, etc, is in steady decay, with the exception of few States like Anambra and Edo where the reverse is substantially the case courtesies of their legitimate State Governments.

Nigeria runs one of the costliest public governances in the world. In 2002, barely three years after the return to civil rule, Nigeria enacted a law called “Salaries & Allowances Of Top Public Office Holders Act of 2002”. The Law allocated N755.8billion (about $5billion) for the servicing of her 17,500 top public office holders annually. In 2008, the law was revised and the said salaries and allowances increased to N1.13trillion (approximately $7.5billion). Yet, to date, the spirit and letters of the law are not strictly adhered to. In other words, the law is totally observed in breach. This is because pieces of annual federal and states’ appropriation legislation are used to allocate and pocket hundreds of billions of naira in the form of “allowances and jumbo pay”, which are in gross violation of the subsisting pay Act, revised in 2008. The shocking part of it all is that almost half of these monies are borrowed locally and internationally with prohibitive interests and penalties. Nigeria borrows to consume and not to produce.

Nigeria, to date, has 17,500 top public office holders; out of which, 13,500 occupy elective offices and 4,000 others occupy appointive offices. According to the revised pay Act of 2008 under reference, N592billion( approximately $3.9billion using N155.00 for $1) is spent annually in servicing the 12,788 top Local Government Areas’ officials; out of this, allowances take N550billion or over 90%, while salaries account for only N41.8billion or less than 10%. There are 774 constitutionally recognized LGAs in Nigeria as of date. The sum of N300.5billion is spent on about 2,664 States’ executives of Nigeria’s 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory. The sum of N40.9billion is spent on 1,152 States’ lawmakers; N98.3billion is spent on 472 federal executives; N60.4billion is spent on 469 federal lawmakers; N18.5billion is spent on 792 State High Court Judges; and N14.8billion is spent on 142 federal judges.

In summary, two sets of allowances abound for Nigeria’s top public office holders; one is contained in the revised pay Act of 2008 and the other is criminally smuggled into the Federal and States’ annual budgets. Out of N80trillion ($500billion) shared among the Federal Government of Nigeria, the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT (federal capital territory) and the 774 Local Government Areas from the Federation Accounts since June 1999, up to 70% of same went into payment of salaries & allowances and debts servicing, while only 30% went into execution of public-interest projects.

Also, out of the total budgets of N37, 665trillion ($240billion) made by the Federal Government of Nigeria between June 1999 and 2013, N21, 7trillion (about $145billion) was spent on consumption (recurrent expenditures), while only N11.3trillion (about $70 billion) went into production (capital expenditures). The remaining sum of N4.5trillion ($28billion) was used for local and foreign debts servicing. These explain why Nigeria runs one of the costliest public governances on earth to date. Our beloved country has also returned to the “Highly Indebted Poor Country” status with total public debts of over $100billion.

This debts figure includes Federal Government’s court judgment of N188.5billion as of 2012; government ministries and parastatals ‘debts; States’ foreign and domestic debts; as well as Federal Government’s foreign and domestic debts. According to official records of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the current total public debts stand at $52billion including its 2013-2015 foreign borrowing proposals of $7.9billion; domestic debts of N6.15trillion ($40billion) and foreign debts of $6,035billion. This account did not include the Federal Government and States’ government incurred court judgment debts; their ministries and parastatals’ debts and huge local debts incurred by the 36 States, the FCT and some Local Government Areas, which are on steady increase.

Nigeria’s foreign debts increased from $970million in 1970 to $36billion in 2006. It came down to about $6billion in 2006 as a result of debts forgiveness and rose again to over $15billion in 2012/2013. As at December 2001, Nigeria borrowed a total of $13.5billion from the Paris Club and spent a total of $41.2billion in its servicing. Nigeria’s journey to huge local indebtedness began in 1986 with a total local debt of N28.44billion ($1.3billion then using N22.00 for one USD), by 2006; it spirally rose to N1.8trillion (about $13billion then) and by 2012/2013, it alarmingly increased to over N9trillion (about $60billion) possibly excluding huge local debts of various States’ government.

For fuller details, please visit our website atwww.intersociety-ng.org for our two reports, dated 03-09-2012 and 01-10-2012 and captioned: “How Nigeria’s Trillion & $44Billion Debts Are Pocketed By 17,500 Politically Privileged Nigerians and “Nigeria In Desperate Need Of Another Iweala Debts’ Exit Magic”. While China; Nigeria’s economic peer in the 60s, 70s and 80s, has increased her foreign exchange reserves from $700 billion in 2006; $2.3 trillion in 2010; to $3 trillion in 2012, Nigeria’s fell from $60 billion in 2006 to $50 billion in 2013. Our beloved country has also depleted her excess crude oil sales reserves from $20 billion in 2006 to almost zero USD in 2013.

Archaic Body of Laws:
Nigeria’s criminal and civil justice systems are in dire need of reforms. Apart from deformities inherent in her Constitution of 1999, most of the pieces of her criminal legislation are outdated. The country has also refused to accede to numerous international rights and humanitarian treaties by way of ratification and “domestication”, in accordance with Section 12 of her Constitution. These have earned her a pariah status internationally. Section 6, sub 6(c) of her Constitution has continued to deny citizens and courts rights of judicial justice and judicial review with respect to the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights, contained in the Chapter Two of her Constitution.

Nigeria’s outdated pieces of criminal legislation and court rules have continued to encourage extra-judicial killings, torture and massive corrupt practices in public establishments. Her judiciary organ is one of the most corrupt judicial institutions in the world as of date and a leading corrupt public institution in the country. For fuller details on Nigeria’s failed justice system, please visit our website (www.intersociety-ng.org). Specifically, see the following: 1. Letter submitted to the Clerk of the Nigeria’s House of Reps Committee on Constitution Review, dated 12th day of November, 2012. 2.

Second letter to the same House on the same issue; dated 18th day of November, 2012 and captioned: “Ousting The Ouster Clauses In The Chapter Four Of The Constitution”.3. Letter to the Attorney General of Nigeria on need to drastically reform Nigeria’s criminal and civil justice systems, dated 13-12-2012. 4. Public statement, captioned: “Return of Anambra’s killing Fields- part two”, dated 11-03-2013. 5. Public statement, captioned: “Oyerinde’s Murder Investigation In Edo State: Saving The Nigeria Police Force From Media & Political Cruxifion,” dated 05-04-2013. From the foregoing, therefore, our beloved country’s 14 years of civilian rule since 1999 has been tortuous and challenging.

This has enlivened the event marking the murder on June 12, 1993 of the historic electoral free speech by the Ibrahim Babangida’s military epoch. It is unreservedly correct to say that most of Nigeria’s social problems of today are caused by tainted and criminal political class, which hijacked the political power from the military in 1999 on account of the refusal of the social saints who fought and won our hand-earned democracy to step in and nurse-maid the political governance. In-spite of these man-made woes, bright hopes still abound in our beloved country. It requires congregation of forces of the social saints with positive international supports for things to be turned around for the good of every Nigerian in no distance future.

About Intersocity-Nigeria:
We were incorporated in Nigeria in April 2008 and launched in July 2008. We operate from Onitsha, Anambra State, Southeast, Nigeria, with a mission to: protecting the civil liberties and other human rights of the Igbo-Southeast citizens of Nigeria, Nigerian citizens and world citizens at all times, in accordance with the UDHR provisions; standing at all times on the side of the abused and the victimized; standing at all times against human rights abusers and enemies of the rule of law be they State actors or non-State actors; campaigning vigorously for the enthronement and sustenance of the rule of law and judicial accountability including periodic reforms in civil and criminal justice systems; and seeking for an end or reducing to the barest minimum of official misconducts in Nigeria and the Continent of Africa including sit-tight political leadership, State murder, bad governance and corruption.

Our vision is to: become a successful, fiery and leading civil liberties and the rule of law advocacy movement in the Igbo-Southeast Nigeria as well as at national, regional and international levels; and see our beloved country quitting her inglorious killing field and economically impoverished self-initiated club. Since the inception of our Organization in 2008, we have carried out over 150 advocacy activities covering reports, public petitions, public statements, articles, researches, publications and documentaries (see our website-www.intersociety-ng.org for more). These we have done with small local assistance only. We humbly seek to be supported internationally to do more and improve upon what we have done. Our motto is: taking civil liberties (human rights) and the rule of law campaigns to the grassroots.

Emeka Umeagbalasi, Chairman of the Board

Israeli PM warns of another Holocaust from Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk. Photo / AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his two-day visit to Poland, which Germany's Nazis occupied during World War II and where they committed the worst crimes ever against the Jewish people, with a stern warning about a potential Holocaust from Iran.
Netanyahu said Wednesday the upcoming "so-called" Iranian presidential election will "change nothing" in the Islamic republic's quest for nuclear weapons and that the regime will continue to pursue a bomb aimed at destroying Israel. Iran insists its uranium enrichment program has only peaceful goals.
Iran's election overseers have approved a list of would-be hopefuls, most of them loyalists favored by both the theocracy and the military, and any future president will likely side with the supreme leadership's nuclear aspirations.
"This is a regime that is building nuclear weapons with the expressed purpose to annihilate Israel's 6 million Jews," Netanyahu said, alluding to the number of Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II. "We will not allow this to happen. We will never allow another Holocaust."

Israel considers Iran its greatest threat because of its support of Islamic militant groups, its arsenal of long-range missiles and primarily its advanced nuclear program.
Netanyahu's comments in Warsaw carried added significance since they came a day before he travels to the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz in southern Poland, where he is to inaugurate a new pavilion meant to educate visitors about the Holocaust and the Nazi Germany's quest to exterminate the Jewish people.
Netanyahu, whose father was born in Warsaw, has an emotional connection to the Holocaust, although he has faced criticism for citing it frequently in the context of current events, notably regarding the potential nuclear threat from Iran. For years, Netanyahu has used his annual address on Israel's Holocaust remembrance day to caution about the danger of a nuclear Iran and vowing that "never again" will the Jews be powerless to defend themselves.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Netanyahu remained undeterred by the critics, insisting the intentions of the Iranians are just as murderous of those that existed in World War II.
"The comparison is intentional. Does Iran want to destroy the state of Israel, first and foremost its Jews? The answer is yes," he said in response to a question from The Associated Press. "Here is where the comparison diverges, since there was no state of Israel back then that could defend itself. The difference is not in the hatred of Jews and the will to destroy them. This is something that is pretty consistent in history and even modern history. The Holocaust didn't change this situation."
Netanyahu and a team of five ministers met with their Polish counterparts and discussed security in Israel's neighborhood, including the stalled peace talks with the Palestinians, the conflict in Syria and a series of bilateral issues such as Poland's possible purchase of Israeli armaments. Israel has been urging Poland, as a member of the European Union, to declare the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah a terrorist organization.
Speaking alongside Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Netanyahu contrasted the painful Jewish history of the past in Poland with the current strong relations between Poland and Israel.
"The histories of our peoples are intertwined over thousands of years, in great achievement and also in great tragedy," said Netanyahu. "We are both shaped by our past and we are both focusing together on shaping our future."
Tusk concurred, saying: "We speak a common language with Israel."
The Germans carried out the Holocaust to a large extent in occupied Poland, because it had Europe's largest Jewish population and it was at the heart of a railway network that allowed the Nazis to easily transport Jews there from elsewhere in Europe. Many Israeli leaders are children of Holocaust survivors, and Israel has the world's largest population of survivors.
In recent years, Poland has become one of the friendliest states to Israel.
Auschwitz remains the most vivid symbol of the cruelty of Nazi Germany's genocide of World War II. The world marks its International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, to coincide with the date of Auschwitz's liberation in 1945. The new exhibit Netanyahu will inaugurate will, for the first time, present Auschwitz in the larger context of the Nazis' systematic attempt to exterminate Europe's Jews.
More than 1 million Jews died in Auschwitz and the adjacent Birkenau death camp in gas chambers or from starvation, disease and forced labor. Auschwitz-Birkenau was the most notorious of a system of death camps that Nazi Germany built and operated in Poland.
"We will never forget the victims of the Holocaust, we will never forget the ultimate crime against humanity," Netanyahu said Wednesday. "And we will never forget our obligation to prevent this from ever happening again."

Cocaine slip-up in banana shipment

A beautiful bunch of drugged bananas. The second slip-up in a month for a Danish supermarket which received 100 kilos of cocaine in a shipment of bananas from Colombia. Photo / Thinkstock

Staff at a Danish supermarket found a massive stash of 100 kilos of cocaine in what was meant to be a shipment of bananas from Colombia, the second haul in a week.
Danish police said they were inquiring into the discovery of a "large amount of powder in a batch of bananas delivered to the Coop in Brondby," adding that analyses were needed to prove that it was cocaine.
Coop supermarkets spokesman Jens Juul Nielsen told the Jyllands-Posten daily that there was little doubt about the nature of the powder, as 80 kilos of cocaine had already been found the week before in Aarhus.
"Like last week we have alerted our supplier in Colombia on this matter," Nielsen said.
"He was a bit perplexed about how this could have happened and he is working on tightening controls," the spokesman said as quoted on the paper's website.
He also told DR public television that there was no danger for purchasers of bananas as both the fruit and the cocaine were "very well wrapped."

Instil discipline in police, Jonathan tells Okiro

BY`BEN AGANDE
ABUJA—President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, challenged the Police Service Commission to instil discipline in the force and ensure that only those qualified to be promoted to the next position got promoted. Speaking at inauguration of members of Police Service Commission at the council chambers of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, President Jonathan wondered why members of the Nigeria Police Force performed so well on international assignment and were yet unable to win the confidence of Nigerians. He said: “One thing and probably I will mention here today is the issue of Nigerian Police.

You will agree with me that Nigerians don’t have so much confidence in the Nigerian police but Nigerian police are good. “The Nigerian Police that work outside under the United Nations are highly honoured, highly commended and Okiro will agree with me. But once we come back home that is not reflected in what we do. ”But I believe there are two things, one is the issue of discipline and the responsibilities of the Police Service Commission is to instil discipline. “One of your responsibilities is to handle promotion. I believe with you only those who merit or deserve promotion should be promoted. Those who deserve to be disciplined or even dismissed must be disciplined. “That is one area I believe you will go into.

People who are promoted to assistant police commissioner and above must merit the rank. If you don’t merit the rank you should be retired from the service”.