Islamic State 'kills 322' from single Sunni tribe

Tribal fighters have been battling Islamic State in Iraq, provoking the group's anger
Mass killings by Islamic State militants have seen 322 members of an Iraqi Sunni tribe killed in western Anbar province, Iraq's government says.
The country's ministry of human rights said more than 50 bodies were found in a water well, whilst 65 members of the Al-Bu Nimr tribe have been kidnapped.
The group's latest attack came on Sunday morning when militants shot and killed at least 50 of the tribe.
IS militants - also Sunnis - control large areas of Iraq and Syria.
The ministry said IS is holding the 65 hostages as prisoners of war. The jihadist group also stole livestock from the tribe, it said.
A senior leader of the tribe, Sheikh Naeem Al Gaoud told the BBC: "The government abandoned us and gave us to Isis on a platter.
"We asked them many times for weapons but they gave us only promises."
The BBC's Orla Guerin, in Baghdad, says mass killings of the tribe have become an almost daily occurrence.
Tribal leaders said Sunday's victims, who reportedly included 10 women and children, were lined up and publically shot as punishment for what IS sees at the tribe's resistance.
A number of people from the Al-Bu Nimr tribe were also found dead in mass graves earlier this week. Fifty others were killed on Saturday.

Ikeja Bomb Blast: Group Demand Action On Former Defence DG

A group, under the auspices of One Voice Against Corruption (OVAC), has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, to reopen prosecution of Chief Mike Okibe Onoja and all other persons indicted in the Ikeja Army cantonment bomb blast.

In a petition written to Mr President through the office of the attorney general of the federation and signed by OVAC National President, John Folarin Odusote, the group believed such action would send a clear message to Nigerians and the international community that the present administration has zero tolerance for established cases of corruption.

The group, in a copy of the petition made available to Newswatch Times, yesterday in Abuja, stated that the panel of inquiry set up by the then administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo indicted Chief Mike Onoja for failing to apply the funds meant for cooling the ammunition depot.

“We write to bring to the attention of Your Excellency a matter that is crucial to public perception of your administration’s fight against corruption. This matter has to do with the non-prosecution of the then Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Defence, Chief Mike Okibe Onoja twelve years after his acts of corruption led to the death of several Nigerians from the Ikeja Cantonment bomb blast.

“Chief Onoja, as Permanent Secretary was Director General of Defence when the contract was awarded. Sadly, up till this moment, nothing has been done to bring him to book for his acts that resulted in such huge loss of lives,” the group noted.

Speaking further, OVAC said “it is on record that Chief Onoja was a Permanent Secretary status in the civil service at the Ministry of Defence before he was dismissed from the service for corrupt acts.”

It said: “Onoja used his office of the civil service as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence to corrupt advantage to build a vast personal interest in Nigeria and abroad. In addition to the properties he owns in Nigerla and abroad, he has held unto the foreign account he operated as a civil servant with impunity in contravention of the public service rules in Nigeria.”

It added that a combined reports of the British Interpol and the Nigeria’s State Security Service (SSS) that jointly investigated him during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration linked Onoja to several properties.

“We therefore make the appeal before your office to direct the Attorney General of the Federation/Minister of Justice to cause an immediate inquiry and possible prosecution of the above mentioned character to be brought to book. This will save us and victims of this heinous crime against humanity the long journey to the International Criminal Court of Justice at Hague,” it concluded.

AC Milan suffers 2-0 home defeat to Palermo

A Cristian Zapata own goal was followed up quickly by Paulo Dybala's strike to give the Sicilian side all three points from the clash

Cristian Zapata had a match to forget as AC Milan suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Palermo in Serie A on Sunday, bringing an end to their six game unbeaten run.
The Colombian came off the bench in the third minute for the injured Alex, but soon found himself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons.

After heading into his own net from a corner, the defender was easily brushed aside by Paulo Dybala as the Palermo striker doubled his side's lead after just 26 minutes.

Milan pushed desperately to reduce the deficit at a sparsely populated San Siro, but found their opportunities limited and quality in the final third lacking.

The defeat is just Milan's second under coach Filippo Inzaghi, but sees their winless run stretch to three matches following draws against Fiorentina and Cagliari.

Real Sociedad have sacks Jagoba

After just one win in 10 Liga games, the Basque club have decided to fire the coach who took them to a seventh place finish last season

Real Sociedad have sacked coach Jagoba Arrasate after a poor start to the season.

The Basque club sit third bottom in La Liga, having won just one of their 10 games so far this term.

Arrasate took over in 2013 and guided the club to a seventh place finish in the league but has failed to replicate that success after the departures of Antoine Griezmann, Claudio Bravo and Haris Seferovic in the summer.

Sociedad were also eliminated from the Europa League in the qualifying phase.

And the club have decided to act quickly by firing Arrasate and his assistants Txema Lumbreras and Bittor Alkiza because of the poor form.

The candidates who have been reported as possible successors to Arrasate include former Mainz coach Thomas Tuchel, ex-Betis and West Brom boss Pepe Mel as well as David Moyes, who was sacked as Manchester United manager earlier this year.

REVEALED: How 30,000 new polling units ’ll be used to rig 2015 elections

FRESH controversy has hit the additional 30,000 polling units created by the Professor Attahiru Jega-led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with allegation that it was created to rig the 2015 presidential election.

Indications emerged that the new units could be used to perpetrate electoral fraud in the 2015 elections. According to information pieced together by Sunday Tribune, the contentious new polling units could have been deliberately structured to rig the presidential election in favour of a particular political party and, indeed, in favour of the North.

According to those in the know, the new voting pattern, which Jega was spearheading  with computerised permanent voter cards which though would not allow rigging to be perpetrated by politicians, had been concluded for  the initial 120,000 polling units before the creation of the  new 30,000 units.

“The old 120,000 polling units have been successfully computerised and since voters will use their computerised voter cards, card readers have been configured to sort out the voter cards and at the particular units where the voters registered.

“Such voter cards could not be used anywhere, because the card readers will reject them at the unit other than where such a card has been issued,” explained the source.

But Jega’s 30,000 units, it was said, were not configured into the system. Therefore, anyone could use his/her cards in the new units.

The allegation being levelled against the INEC and some of its officials, according to sources, is  that with the North having been assigned 21,000 of the new polling units as against the South’s paltry 9,000, the commission would have skewed the result of the 2015 polls in favour of its preferred political party.

“There are 30,000 units which could accommodate any card unlike the initial 120,000 polling units which can only accept cards that have been registered at the units. You now have floating card readers in the 30,000 polling units. What can happen with 21,000 polling units where any card can be used to vote is better imagined,” revealed the source.

Since INEC announced the creation of additional 30,000 polling units, criticisms have trailed the idea. Although Professor Jega had, on various occasions, explained that INEC did it with good intention, major stakeholders insisted the commission erred by undertaking such an action, which even a committee of the Senate had declared illegal.

In spite of a court action instituted by political parties, especially Unity Party of Nigeria, Professor Jega has ignored such calls to halt the idea of new polling units, insisting they have come to stay.

2015 Elections: 6,000 PDP members defect to APC in Akoko-Edo

No fewer than 6,000 members of the Peoples Democratic Party in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area on Sunday defected to All Progressives Congress.

The defectors were received by the leadership of the APC in a rally held at Igarra, the Headquartres of Akoko-Edo LGA, which also had in attendance serving lawmakers and aspirants into the national and state assemblies, including the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Julius Ihonvbere, who is also a senatorial aspirant, and a House of Representatives hopeful, Anslem Agbabi.

Speaking at the rally, the Senator representing Edo North Senatorial District, Domingo Obende, expressed confidence that the party had taken control of the Federal House of Representatives, with the defection of the Speaker, Amino Tambuwal.

Obende, who described the withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security details as unconstitutional stated that the current change in the lower was a indication of the change that the party would bring about in the 2015 general elections.

“The position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives is not a position of a political party but a position that is given to someone in the chambers to lead the others, they are equal but one has to given the power to lead.

“I do not know where PDP is coming from withdrawing his police details, is very wrong, very unconstitutional and it has to be restored.

“The change already happening in the National Assembly is a pointer to the change that we are going to witness next year.

“I want to say to you that there is noting the PDP can do about the speaker; there is no way they can raise 240 members to impeach Tambuwal and since they cannot do that, the APC is now fully in charge of the House of Representatives and I want to say that today, we must know that God is working on our direction.

“This change cannot come if you and I are not in oneness. This change will not come if you and I are not committed to our party. We must work hard, there should be no rancour,” he said.

Adamawa indigenes seek food, cash for IDPs

The Adamawa Community Association, has expressed concern over the incursion of the Boko Haram insurgents into the Northern Senatorial District of the State in particular and the North-East geo-political zone in general, with a call on government and relevant authorities to assist Internally Displaced Persons in cash or kind.

The ACA also expressed concern over the insurgency in the North East geo-political zone of the country saying all stakeholders should “take additional measures to ensure that peace and normalcy returns to the areas as soon as possible.”

The association in a statement issued on Sunday evening in Abuja by the President of its FCT Chapter, Alhaji Sali Bello Sali and Secretary-General, Alhaji Ibrahim Modibbo, also commiserated with “all persons affected by the disturbances especially those who lost loved ones and properties arising from the activities of the insurgents.”

The ACA also commended the efforts of government in addressing the situation, but calls on the Federal Government, Adamawa State government and all other relevant authorities to act fast in bringing the situation under control.

The group said, “We also call on all citizen of Adamawa State and indeed all well-meaning Nigerians to come to the aid of the displaced people by donating in cash and kind through the appropriate Government Agencies, Non-Government Organizations, Faith Based Organizations and Civil Society Organizations, towards the amelioration of the plight of our brothers affected by these disturbances.

Workers tackle AMCON over sales of Enterprise, other banks

Following reports that the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria is transferring assets of three commercial banks namely Enterprise, Mainstreet and Keystone banks, to new operators, employees of the banks have started expressing fear that they might lose their jobs.

They have therefore approached a Federal High Court in Lagos, asking that the sales or transfer of the banks be invalidated.

In a suit marked FHC/L/CS/1552/14 filed through their lawyer, Fred Agbaje, the bank workers said the move by AMCON to sell the banks without carrying them along was done in breach of the law.

According to them, AMCON ought to have involved them in the bidding process, since by the terms and virtue of their employment they were shareholders and were entitled to a maximum of 10 per cent of the banks’ total assets.

Two workers from each of the three banks sued for themselves and on behalf of their colleagues.

They are Ogunremi Francis and Aneke Emmanuel for Mainstreet Bank staff; Abimbola Alabi and Aderonke Aworemi for Keystone Bank staff; and Victor Nwankwo and Isokpan Efe-Martins for Enterprise Bank staff.

The seventh plaintiff is the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and other Financial Institutions.

Joined as the first to sixth defendants are AMCON, the three banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Security Exchange Commission.

A 35-paragraph affidavit filed in support of their originating summons was deposed to by Ogunremi of Mainstreet Bank.

Ogunremi explained that the suit was necessary, having realised that the recent acquisition and sales of the three banks were “in defiance to the CBN guidelines and other relevant laws governing commercialization and privatization matters and public procurement in Nigeria.”

Photo: IBB returns from Germany after 2 months

Former military Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB), who left Nigeria on Sept. 6, arrived the country yesterday November 1st after undergoing surgery in a German hospital.

IBB arrived at the Minna airport by 2.50 pm in a chartered flight and was received by Mohammed and Halima, his children, as well as some government officials, his close friends and associates. He was dressed in blue kaftan with gray stripes, left the airport for his hilltop house, Minna in a BMW car and arrived at 3:15 pm into the waiting hands of four of his grand children. Continue...
In a short interview with journalists, when asked if the pressure will not be too much for him with 2015 politicking, IBB said that he had been following the political developments in Nigeria while in Germany, and added that, “I missed all of you that welcomed me, especially my local champions (journalists). I look forward to all of you, to seat and chat with you and talk about politics as we always do. For now, I want to rest.”

Scary stuff! Full transcript of Shekau's recently released BH video

Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau allegedly released a video yesterday October 31st where he said a lot of things, including that all the abducted Chibok girls have converted to Islam, that they have all been married off, and that there was never a ceasefire agreement with the Nigerian Govt. Below is the full transcript of the video he released...
"Without wasting time, we hereby send a message to the tyrants of Nigeria and other infidels as well as their world tyrants as a whole in Hausa language.
"You people should understand that we only obey Allah, we tread the path of the Prophet. We hope to die on this path and get eternal rest in our graves, rise up in bliss before our Lord and enter Paradise (quotes from the Koran). Our goal is the Garden of Eternal Bliss. May Allah protect us.
“Oh you followers of constitution, have you forgotten your laws? Since the time we were preaching in Maiduguri, in your constitution in Section 8, verse (paragraph) 2 to 3, in your accursed book called Constitution, which became law for those who are not fair to themselves on earth.
“You shamelessly declared in your radio and newspapers that you were fighting those determined to establish an Islamic state.
“Because of that constitution that barred us from preaching in Maiduguri, we moved out and migrated as Allah ordained (quoting from the Koran).
“Have you forgotten that? And it is you today claiming we made truce with you? In what way did we make truce? Which kind of negotiation, with whom? That your Danladi, the infidel like you, who we will not spare and will decapitate if he falls into our hands today?
“Where do we know him, not to talk of him representing us? Who is Danladi on this earth?
“Allah knows everything. Allah is witness (quoting from the Koran).
“Therefore I tell you (that) we have not made ceasefire with anyone. Only battle, hitting, striking and killing with gun which we long for like tasty meal. This what we believe in and fight for.
“Our goal is to see only Koran being followed on earth. This is our focus.
“It is said Chadian President, Nigerian ambassador, the people of Cameroon and us met and agreed on a truce. How? Don’t you know we are still holding your German hostage, always crying. If we wish we hack him or slaughter him or shoot him. We fear no one but Allah. This is our job.
“When did we release Chibok schoolgirls that we seized, those that Shekau who is now talking, seized, brought them and kept them in the place he chose for more than six months now.
“Allah has proved too difficult for the infidel, Allah has proved too difficult for the tyrant, Allah has proved too difficult for the United States, Allah has proved too difficult for a plane called drone, bastard. Allah has proved too difficult for everyone. Allah is mightier than everyone.
“Surprisingly, if the women of Chibok, I mean the mothers of the Chibok schoolgirls and their fathers, if you know the condition your daughters are in today it could lead some to convert to Islam and some to die from grief.
“Don’t you know the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls have converted to Islam? They have now memorised two chapters of the Koran. They have seen themselves in the Books of Luke and John that Christians have corrupted the Bible. Girls from Chibok confessing Islam is the true religion! A six-grader, liars.
“We married them off. They are in their marital homes. (Laughter)
“Fury upon fury. Shekau can infuriate. It is said Shekau is leadership position. Which leadership? Do you think we are practising traditional monarchy? (Laughter). It is the same Shekau whose father is Muhammadu, his son is Muhammadu, his name is Abubakar. It is the same Shekau, he is still the one. Shekau, eat the heart of infidels since infidels want to disobey Allah.
“We did not negotiate with anyone. We did not negotiate with anyone. We did not negotiate with Chad. We did not negotiate with Cameroon. We did not negotiate with Nigeria. We did not negotiate with the Chadian ambassador. We did not negotiate with Africa. We did not negotiate with Asia. We did not negotiate with Europe. We did not negotiate with America. We did not negotiate with the United Nations.
“What is negotiation? We did not negotiate with anyone. It is a lie. It is a lie. We will not negotiate. What is our business with negotiation? Allah said we should not (quoting from the Koran).
“We follow the Koran. We will not be teased by any infidel. Now you don’t know what to do, you want to convince your leaders that are tired of you, that have realised your lies, including your Solomon Dalung, your Abdullahi Wase, your Senator Ndume.
“They are tired of you, they have realised you are deceiving them, you are playing with their intelligence, you just want to protect your own interests. It is bad for you.
“I’m only making this speech for those people who want to convert to Islam. I don’t care whatever you say. What is my business with you? Allah is my focus. I left my parents’ home. I left my mother and my father, I left my relations and joined those who want to practise Islam (quoting from the Koran). And you are trying to deceive people with negotiation.
“I thank Allah. I started with knife and today I have seized more than 20 of our armoured vehicles, they are in my possession.
“It is said Shekau is a position. Bravo to you Orator. Well done to you who studied in Israel. Well done to you the expert in Psychology, well done you expert in Biology, well done you believer in ‘I pledge to Nigeria my country’. This is what you said.
“You pledge to Nigeria your country. Right? Me, me Shekau I pledge to Allah my God. If you don’t know, today you will know.
“I pledge to Allah my God, to be faithful. This is Shekau. Idiot like you!
“This is just my speech in brief.
“You should repent and turn to Allah and follow the Koran. You should follow the Koran. You should follow the Koran. You are so unfortunate as to be preventing those who follow the Koran obeying Allah. “It is a lie. It is a lie. Whoever refuses to listen will be dealt with by Allah.”

Source: Premium Times