Pilot of Missing Airforce Jet Beheaded by Boko Haram

Boko Haram beheads pilot of ‘missing’ airforce jet
A new Boko Haram video shows the beheading of a man identified as the pilot of a missing Nigerian Air Force jet and burnt out parts of a plane — the first indication that the Islamic extremist group has the capability to bring down aircraft.

It also allegedly features Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, a man the military has claimed to have killed last year. Two weeks ago, the military said they had killed in battle a Shekau lookalike who had posed in the group’s videos.

“Here I am, alive and I will remain alive until the day Allah takes away my breath,” the man says in the Hausa language. “Even if you kill me … it will not stop us imposing Islamic rule … We are still in our Islamic state, reigning and teaching the Koran.”

The United States still has a $7m ransom on Shekau’s head, despite the death claims.

The video was made available to The Associated Press through the same channels used previously and seems to show the same man claiming to be Shekau.

In the latest video, he says they are prosecuting in accordance with Shariah law in areas under their control. Examples of punishments are shown, including the stoning to death of a man apparently accused of adultery; the amputation of the hand of a young man accused of theft; the lashings of a man and what appears to be a girl covered in the hijab.

The video ends with a show of burnt out plane parts in rugged bush.

Two pilots and an Alpha jet have been missing since September 11 when it left Yola, Adamawa State, on a bombing mission against Boko Haram.

The video shows a kneeling man in a camouflage vest with his right hand in a sling, with a fighter hovering over him with an axe, which is later used in the beheading.

Speaking in English, the victim identifies himself as a Wing Commander in the Nigerian Air Force and says he was undertaking a mission in Kauri area of Borno State on September 11.

“We were shot down and our aircraft crashed,” he says, appearing to keep his composure throughout the ordeal. “To this day, I don’t know the whereabouts of my second pilot.”

Shekau claims in the video to have brought down 10 military aircraft.

The Defense Headquarters has denied speculation that Boko Haram brought down a helicopter gunship that crashed in August. The pilot died, two crew members survived.

82 Foreigners Arrested in Jos, Plateau State

The Special Task Force (STF) in Jos, Plateau State, yesterday said it apprehended 82 foreigners, mostly of Cameroonian, Nigerien and Chadian origins within Rikkos community in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The STF Media and Information Officer, Captain Ikedichi Iweha, said the suspects were arrested within Rikkos community which has been under surveillance due to the high number of foreigners there.
Captain Iweha said: “We did not just wake up and went about arresting people; the area has been under surveillance for a long time. It should have been a joint operation with the Nigerian Immigration Service but there were contending issues so we had to move swiftly.”
He said the 82 suspect were in the custody of the STF and will remain with them until operatives of the Immigration Service come for them. However, Babangida Musa, whose relative, Umar Ahmad, was arrested, said the suspect is a Nigerian from Kaduna State, but residing in Jos.  
“He is just 21 years and has a provision shop in Rikkos, he was arrested after he had closed from his shop and was sleeping at home,” he said.
He called on law enforcement agents to release any of the suspects found to be a citizen of the country.

Woman sells her son’s baby for N350,000 in Imo State

According to Sun News, Mrs. Tina Iwuji, a 52 year old mother from Ezinihitte Mbaise LGA, Imo State has been arrested by the Imo state police command for allegedly selling the two weeks old baby of her son's girlfriend.

Mrs Iwuji son, Emeka had impregnated his Lagos girlfriend, Esther Godwin, a native of Ndoki, Delta State and then decided to send her to his mother without telling his mum that he owned the pregnancy and also instructed Esther not to open up to his mother that he was the who got her pregnant.

Mrs Iwuji accepted Emeka's request and allowed Esther move into her house in January 2014. Esther eventually gave birth, and just two weeks later, Mrs Iwuji sold the baby for N350,000 not knowing she was selling her own grand daughter Continue...



Mrs Iwuji told Sun "It was my son Emeka Iwuji who brought Esther as a friend not a wife from Lagos to my home in Mbaise, Imo State. I asked Esther who was responsible for her pregnancy and she said it was not my son. I asked her what was her mission and whether her mother was aware that she came to Mbaise but she said no. She came to the house on January 7, 2014" she said

Esther gave birth on April 11th to a baby girl at Hope Clinic and Maternity, Mbaise and on hearing that she had given birth, Emeka asked his mum to facilitate means of selling the baby and the proceed given to Esther for her to use to further her education.

Mrs Iwuji then began mounting pressure on Esther and not too long a nurse, Eunice Eze, who is in the baby sale syndicate came into the picture and she contacted another lady, Patricia Njoku who then identified a willing buyer, Mrs Benardine Abara who needed a girl to compliment her three sons.

Even with all the contacts made, Esther was still not game to sell her child. Seeing that the young lady would not give-in, Mrs Iwuji connived with her brother to take Esther somewhere where her child was forcefully taken away from her and handed to Eunice who then sold it to Mrs Abara for N350,000.

Distraught Esther then went to the Mbaise police station to report the case and all the parties except Emeka have been arrested. It was at the station that Mrs Iwuji got to know that the baby she had been bargaining to sell all along was her own grandchild.

A shocked Mrs Iwuji said" “It was when I was arrested with the other people that Esther confessed that my son Emeka was responsible for her preg­nancy. I was shocked.”she said

Imo State Police Commissioner, Mr Abdulmajid says they would all soon be charged to court.

Business Man – D’banj’s Release ”Koko Garri”

There is no slowing down for D’banj as the music star is set to release his Koko Garri Brand to local supermarket soon.

 

The koko master took to his Instagram page to share his new product which is the first from his Koko Holdings Company. “Finally here after 5 yrs. I can proudly say #KokoGarri is the first product of Koko Holdings, thanks to God.” he captioned the image.

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85,000 jobs coming in Dangote Refinery

The proposed $9 billion Dangote Refinery in Lagos is expected to create 85,000 jobs for skilled and unskilled workers
Despite having three refineries, Nigeria still finds it difficult to meet the domestic needs for petrol and other products. The refineries with an installed capacity to process 445,000 barrels per day (bpd) are not working at optimum capacity.
Against this background, the proposed $9 billion Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company in Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), Lagos, is expected to help refine products to bridge the gap in local needs, conserve foreign exchange and create jobs.
The Dangote Group of Companies is promising to train over 8,000 engineers to run the refinery. It says on completion, the project will create no fewer than 85,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Since it is a complex business, it is expected to open up other jobs in construction, management, engineering, and administrative duties.
These jobs can be broken into pure engineering and journeyman.
Engineering refers to disciplines requiring formal education. In the journeyman category, workers do not usually need a degree. They begin as a trainee and work their way up to a site supervisor that oversees a project.
Journeymen are contractors hired by construction companies which are for contracted by refineries construction-related projects, such as repairs and major turnarounds.
Other available job openings are oil refinery foreman, refinery general foreman, and oil refinery site supervisor.
Welders, electricians, tilers, aluminium doors/windows fitters, building and construction workers will also not be left out. There are other workers who maintain the refinery and do the work that is required to keep the refinery running.
These positions can include maintenance personnel, cooks and catering staff, truck and heavy equipment drivers, mechanics and other. Gardeners and sweepers will also be needed to keep the refinery surroundings as clean as possible.
A top official of LFTZ who will not want his name in print, said the zone has been split into an oil and gas logistic park, light and heavy industrial and manufacturing section, media centre and urban residential section.
The official added that for the zone to be developed quickly, as expected by the initiator, calls are being made for the development of a meaningful partnership, to build a modern international airport and sea –port, that will serve the zone, and become the aviation and maritime hub of the sub-region.
It was also gathered that real estate companies would be given a role to play in the development of the zone. The LFTZ will showcase opportunities for private companies in the oil and gas manufacturing, food processing, hospitality and leisure sectors, banking and financial service sector would be expected to develop a 21st century financial centre at the zone.
According to President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, Nigeria spends about $30 billion yearly on importation of petroleum products, promising that when the project is finally completed, it will transform the country from being a net importer of petroleum products to a net exporter of the products. Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) or diesel, Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK) and other by-products of petroelum refining such as poly-propylene and fertiliser will be in adequate supply.
Speaking on the Project, the General Secretary, National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), Issa Aremu, said with a projected daily production output of 400,000 barrels, the same capacity of the four government-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, operating at less than 30 per cent of installed capacities, the bold initiative by the Dangote Group is a giant stride in re-industrialising Nigeria in particular and Africa in general.
He said the project will create employment opportunities for many Nigerians and set the country on the pedestal of industrialisation.
The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, (NUPENG) agrees that the proposed refinery/petro-chemical and fertiliser complex is a huge job generating venture. The workers have called on other private investors, including the multinational oil companies to borrow a leaf from Dangote Group by establishing refineries in the country to create jobs and save the huge foreign exchange dissipated yearly on fuel importation.
The oil workers recalled that years back, the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo gave licences to about 18 indigenous firms to refine crude oil, lamenting that about a decade after, none of them has being able build the a refinery plant.

Troops in offensive, capture masterminds of blasts

The masterminds of Saturday’s twin blasts in Bintu Sugar Ngamari area of Maiduguri, Borno State, which left over 35 persons dead and others wounded, have been arrested.
A statement by the Defence Headquarters, DHQ, in Abuja, signed by its Director of Defence Information, DDI, Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade, also confirmed the killing of several insurgents and the destruction of newly identified terrorists’ bases in Borno State during air assaults.
General Olukolade said that the suspects were already helping in the ongoing investigation on the incident.
“The air operations to clear terrorists bases sited in Daggu and Yazza areas of Borno State during the weekend have registered the expected results in the ongoing campaign against terror.
“The mopping up operation by ground forces after air assault has confirmed the death of several terrorists located in the bases.
“Civilians had earlier been evacuated from the vicinity of the identified terrorist enclaves in line with operation orders before the air and land assaults.
“Extensive cordon and search of the entire locality is ongoing with a view to apprehending the wounded and other members of the terrorists group who might still be trying to flee.
“Also yesterday, troops in pursuit of those who carried out attack in Buni Yadi last week had fierce encounter with the terrorists around Mainok and other locations between Apa and Abulum in Borno State.
“The air and land operations that ensued recorded the death of some terrorists. Soldiers also died in the encounters.
“Meanwhile, suspects who are believed to have been responsible for detonating the bomb that exploded at Bintu Sugar Ngamari area of Maiduguri yesterday (Saturday),killing many citizens and wounding several others have been arrested and are helping in the ongoing investigation on the incident.
“Patrols are continuing on land and air in the entire mission area in North East towards apprehending or eliminating the rampaging terrorists in the area,” the DHQ said.
General Olukolade further said that the campaign coordination cell had in its report, dismissed as untrue, the claims that civilians were mistakenly killed in the air operations in some parts of the mission area, as the claim could not be confirmed after the mopping up aspect of the operation.
He said the reports were believed to be part of the design by those bent on discrediting the counter terrorists’ mission.
“Defence Headquarters has reaffirmed its directive that necessary care should continue to always be taken to ensure safety of innocent Nigerians in the operational areas, notwithstanding the fierceness of the encounters,” he said.

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