NAIJAFEED

Monday, November 14, 2011

France pledges support to Nigeria against country's extremists

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe vowed Saturday to help Nigeria in its fight against extremist groups as the country faces an intensifying Islamist insurgency.

The radical Islamist group Boko Haram has claimed credit for a recent wave of gun and bomb attacks, including one last week in Nigeria's northeast that left some 150 people dead, one of the deadliest operations attributed to the group.

"We shall fight against this phenomenon. We are ready to share any information. We are ready to coordinate our intelligence services. We are ready also to give our help in training cooperation," Juppe told reporters after talks with his Nigerian counterpart Olugbenga Ashiru in the capital Abuja.

There has been speculation over whether Boko Haram -- which also said it carried out an August suicide attack at the UN headquarters that killed 24 -- has developed closer ties with Al-Qaeda's north Africa branch.

"France is directly concerned and involved in the question of terrorism. We received, often, threats against our interests in the region or in France. So we are in complete solidarity with the countries of the region around the Sahel," Juppe said.

Nigeria is France's biggest trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa, Juppe said, with French oil giant Total among the major producers of crude in the country that is Africa's largest oil producer.

Juppe, who arrived in Nigeria on Friday, also held a closed-door meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on Saturday.

He was to leave for Kano, the biggest city in the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria, later on Saturday before returning to France, following a trip that also included a visit to South Africa.

RNW

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Shell reports fresh oil spill in Nigeria

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell on Sunday reported a fresh spill from a key delivery pipeline in southern Nigeria, but said it has contained the leak.

"SPDC (Shell Petroleum Development Company) contained a spill in Adibawa delivery line which was reported yesterday (Saturday)," Shell's Nigerian joint venture said in a statememt.

"We had dispatched our spill containment team to the site as soon as we received the reports and the personnel succeeded in containing the leak," it said.

Shell, which announced a production cut from the same facility last week, said it was investigating the incident to determine the cause and impact.

"The delivery line is part of the Okordia-Rumuekpe line, which SPDC shut down following a leak on November 8 and subsequent fire incident," it said, blaming last week's incident on sabotage.

"A joint investigation visit found that the spill was caused by hacksaw cuts," it said, adding that there had been several hacksaw cuts on the Adibawa delivery line this year.

But Environmental Rights Action (ERA)/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (FoEN), which visited the site, ruled out sabotage in a statement Sunday.

"Anybody who visits this spill site can attest to the fact that this is a case of equipment failure," the environmental group said.

"From experience gained in the field, this is one of the most obvious cases that points to that fact: no signs of any clearing around the spill site, no signs of any digging," it said.

"This is the 12th oil spill that has occurred between August and November 2011 in Ikarama community environment," ERA said, adding that Shell should visit the area, clean up the spill and compensate the affected residents.

"Adequate compensation should be paid for damages to crops, impacted farmlands and general damages incurred by the victims of this latest spill," it said.

Oil spills occur regularly in Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, and are often caused by oil thieves seeking to steal crude for sale on the lucrative black market.

RNW

Nigeria's agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill. The US and Europe ignore it

Algeria says Boko Haram Has Ties With Al Qaeda

Algeria's Deputy Foreign Minister, Abdelkader Messahel, Sunday said there was strong coordination between Boko Haram and the Algerian-based north African branch of al Qaeda.

Reuters quoted Messahel as saying: "We have no doubts that coordination exists between Boko Haram and al Qaeda. The way both groups operate and intelligence reports show that there is cooperation."

Reuters also reported that Western security experts said any link-up with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) could make it a more potent threat, especially to Nigeria's energy sector since the group had killed dozens of people over time.

AQIM grew out of a conflict in Algeria between the government and Islamist militants.

In the past few years it has expanded its activities to include Mali, Niger and Mauritania but was not thought to have reached as far south as Nigeria.

The Reuters also stated that Algeria's assessment of ties between AQIM and Boko Haram carried authority because Algeria has the biggest intelligence-gathering operation on al Qaeda of any country in the region.

It tallies with the view of some in the nation's military, who said Boko Haram was increasingly linking up with global jihadist movements.

This Day

Video - Suicide blast kills 18 at UN in Nigeria

Nigerian government condemns foreign airlines' practices

The Federal Ministry of Aviation has investigated British Airways and Virgin Atlantic with respect to the discriminatory and unacceptable prices of air fares between the Lagos-London and Abuja-London Routes, thereby creating regional fare disparity and imbalance.

In a statement signed by Joe Obi, SA (Media) to the Hon. Minister of Aviation , the Ministry condemns this practice in its totality, vowing it will take all necessary action to protect Nigerian citizens from exploitation that arises from a price regime that is highly restrictive and discriminatory. The statement reads in part;

" This is in spite of the fact that the Lagos-London Route is one of the highest and most lucrative yields which ought to attract one of the lowest fares in the region. Accordingly, the Honourable Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Adaeze Oduah will direct that this regional imbalance should stop forthwith|.

" Furthermore, the Honourable Minister has observed with utter dismay the inequitable treatment meted out to Arik Air in denying its fleet access into Heathrow Airport from Abuja. As a result, the airline has been compelled to discontinue its flight operations from Abuja to Heathrow which has impacted negatively on the passengers on this route.

" Finally, the Hon.Minister wants to assure Nigerians that appropriate action is being taken in this regard to redress the situation".

Vanguard

Virgin Atlantic ending partnership with Nigeria airlines

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Nigerian taxi driver in the U.S. killed over $75 cents

A Nigerian taxi driver in the United States of America, (USA), Mr. Domingo I. Ezirike, was last October 22 shot dead over a 75 cent dispute, police said.

The US police said it has charged a 20-year-old Rashad Terrell Slye of Southeast with first-degree murder while armed for the shooting of Ezirike of Prince Georges County.

Police officers discovered 40-year-old Ezirike in the driver's seat of his cab shortly before 4 a.m., sitting in the grass in the 4300 block of Ponds Street Northeast near Anacostia Avenue. Emergency medical personnel found no signs of life.

The medical examiner later determined that Ezirike was killed with a gunshot wound to the body, according to police documents.

One of the detectives who found Ezirike told homicide detectives that he had seen the man in his cab during a routine traffic stop less than half an hour before he was found shot, police documents state. He leaned into the cab to tell Ezirike to put on his seat belt, the detective said, and saw two passengers in the back seat.

Calls made from Slye's cell phone led police to an address in the 1500 block of Anacostia Avenue. A witness there told police that when she got into the cab with Slye, the cabbie asked the two for $20 to drive them into D.C., which she gave him. She also remembered the police traffic stop.

At the final destination, she told police the driver asked for an additional $7.75. She gave him $5 and Slye $2, but the driver and Slye began arguing over the remaining 75 cents. She told police she got out of the cab and walked away, asking Slye to come with her, but he continued to argue with the cabbie. A witness at Ponds Street told police to have overheard a man in the cab saying loudly "Give me my $20 back," then demanding to be led out of the cab. The witness told police a black man got out of the back seat with a silver handgun, telling the driver to get out of the car.

The driver got out and lay down on the ground, telling the gunman he didn't have any money. The gunman, the witness said, went through the driver's pockets, where he apparently found some money. The witness told police it seemed as if the suspect tried to shoot the driver once but the gun didn't fire.

The driver took off his pants to prove that he didn't have any money with him. The suspect told the driver to get back into the cab. He then fired one shot and ran off toward Anacostia Avenue, the witness said.

Ezirike, still alive, was able to reverse the car toward Anacostia Avenue. His cell phone showed a 911 call shortly before 3:30 a.m. Through GPS, the taxi company was able to determine that Ezirike picked up his last customer at the Morgan Boulevard Metro station in Landover.

The number used to order the cab was also used to call someone in the 1500 block of Anacostia Avenue. Police searched that address under a warrant and found the cell phone and a blue jacket the witness at Ponds Street had described. Ezirike's wallet was found behind that building.

Vanguard