Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan challenges the violent Islamist Boko Haram sect to identify themselves and state clearly their demands as a basis for talks.
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Former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, has said that he has quit partisan politics, but added that he will, henceforth, provide advisory services to the nation as a statesman. He made the disclosure at the Daily Trust 9th Annual Dialogue at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja Thursday.
Drawing inspiration from former US President Richard Nixon who once told the US media he would no longer be in the public glare for bashing, Babangida said: "I have news for you my media friends: you will never see Ibrahim Babangida again. Today, my dear media friends, although I will continue to be involved by playing advisory role, I have decided never to seek political office in this country again."
He added that though, he had left office more than 20 years ago, "I am still a substance for bashing from the media."
Chastising the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, for departing from his known radical bent to public policies while he (Maku) was a student leader, Babangida said Maku had changed and had become the champion of government’s deregulation policy.
He said: "I have my brother here, Labaran Maku, who was a young student leader always leading demonstration against Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), always demonstrating against minor increases in fuel prices. Today, he is in government, he is now government spokesman.
"Maku was also one of the restless reporters against IBB transitional programme, I hope Labaran Maku will use his wealth of experience to reverse all the hot phrases and coinages used by protesters, the Lagos youths, critics and civil right activists. Most of the phrases used in the protest were coined by Labaran, as a student."
Also speaking at the event, Senate President David Mark said the African continent has no alternative to democracy, as it remains the only platform for sustainable development.
Mark, who was represented by the Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), added: "Democracy is a must for Africa. The Senate has shown its commitment to both democracy and the media by enacting the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act."
Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, on his part, urged the media not to give priority to profit making at the expense of national interest.
The governor further said that the exigency of national security should compel the media to work hard so as "not to allow Nigeria go under”, adding: “when national interest is at stake, I think there is need to ask questions".
Representative of the Minister of Information, Kingsley Isadalor, said the duty of the media is to embrace the profession in such a way that both the led and the leaders become beneficiaries of the development of journalism.
Chairman of Media Trust, publishers of Daily Trust, Mallam Kabiru Yusuf, told the gathering that this year’s event was organised to x-ray the role of the media in politics, and how it affects governance and development.
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There are strong indications that President Goodluck Jonathan has relieved Police IG, Hafiz Ringim, of his
duties.
According to Villa sources who confided in Vanguard, the President summoned the embattled Police chief to his office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja Wednesday morning for a brief meeting, following which Ringim was told his services would no longer be needed.
The meeting between Jonathan and Ringim which reportedly lasted over thirty minutes, caused an unusual delay in the commencement of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting.
Vanguard learnt that President Jonathan directed Ringim shortly after the meeting to immediately handover to his next in command and proceed on compulsory retirement.
Although the Force Headquarters in Abuja could not immediately confirm Ringim’s sack, it also did not deny it
as the Deputy Force PRO, CSP Yemi Ajayi, told Vanguard: “I cannot confirm that yet.”
Before today”s ill-fated meeting with the President, Ringim was seen at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday evening with some big wigs, ostensibly to prevail on the President to lend Ringim more grace.
Sources told Vanguard that the President, who hitherto condoned the slips of Ringim because the police chief was due to retire in March this year, could not however pardon Ringim’s recent goof involving the escape of Kabiru Sokoto, the Boko Haram suspect linked with the deadly Christmas Day bombings in Madalla, near Abuja, which claimed over forty lives.
The President’s initial soft spot for Ringim, it was learnt, may also not be unconnected with their close ties right from the days when President Jonathan was deputy governor and governor in Bayelsa.
Vanguard also learnt that aside being abruptly relieved of his duties, Ringim may also be quizzed by the security
agencies to divulge all he knows about the controversial escape of Sokoto.
It could not be immediately ascertained who is likely to succeed the embattled Ringim yet.
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He was unemployed and receiving welfare, but Adekunle Adetiloye was somehow still living lavishly, complete with a Range Rover vehicle, extended trips to England and an expensive condominium.
That alone piqued authorities' interest, but then there were two credit cards tucked away in his wallet that seemed to confirm suspicions that the Nigerian-born Adetiloye, a Canadian citizen, was up to something nefarious. The pieces of plastic each bore different names — Donald Douglas and Vincent Andriole — and helped authorities prosecute a case they describe as one of the largest high-tech bank robberies in U.S. history.
"Characterizing this fraud scheme as massive, if anything, is an understatement," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Chase from North Dakota said in court documents.
Adetiloye, 40, was sentenced Monday to nearly 18 years in prison on fraud charges. He was convicted of mail fraud, but authorities believe he masterminded a scheme to open nearly 600 fraudulent bank accounts and bilk 22 major banks out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Federal prosecutor Nick Chase said during the sentencing hearing in North Dakota that Adetiloye had an "insatiable hunger for other people's money."
U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson handed down a 214-month prison term and scheduled a Feb. 15 hearing to discuss returning the nearly $1.5 million in losses to credit card companies and banks.
Defense attorney Richard Henderson had asked for a sentence of fewer than 16 years. Henderson said any prison time for his client, a native of Nigeria, is more difficult than it would be for American citizens because he has no family in the United States.
Investigators' efforts to deconstruct the multifarious case are laid out in the nearly 12,000 pages of court documents filed by lawyers in federal court.
Greg Krier, lead credit card fraud investigator for U.S. Bank, testified that it was the most complex case he had ever seen. His company, which has its own fraud unit, launched special training sessions focusing on the case in hopes of catching the culprits.
The case wound up in North Dakota after U.S. Bank's customer service center in Fargo intercepted calls by Adetiloye and others. The complexity of the scheme, which took five years to investigate and litigate, was highlighted in a sentencing phase that has lasted nearly a year and included numerous hearings and briefings.
The lead investigator, one of 25 people who worked on the case, put in 2,000 hours, authorities said.
Defense attorneys had argued that their client, the only person charged in the case, was a "marginal and minimal participant" whose role was to handle mail and withdraw money from ATMs. The government and the judge have said otherwise.
Investigators said the operation accessed information of nearly 16,000 people, about 500 of whom had their identities stolen for the purpose of obtaining credit cards. It's alleged that more than 100 commercial mailboxes were opened under false or stolen identities.
The government said Adetiloye went so far as to mask his handwriting after a judge ordered a test of his calligraphy
Erickson, the federal judge, said in court documents ahead of the sentencing that the evidence "indisputably demonstrates" that Adetiloye was a leader or organizer of the scheme. The judge has calculated losses to banks at about $1.5 million, but said it could have been as high as $5 million if credit limits had been maxed out.
The trauma cannot be measured, Erickson said.
"The non-monetary harm to the victims was substantial," the judge wrote. "They lost sleep, they lost time with their families, they lost time at work, and they lost their sense of security. Some victims spent hours trying to reclaim their credit record and their identities."
Court documents show that U.S. Bank suffered the most number of tainted accounts, at 130, for a total loss of about $76,000. The companies alleged to have lost the most money were Citibank, at about $271,000, and Discover, at about $248,000.
Brett Bogan, the security investigations manager at Reed Elsevier, the parent company of LexisNexis and ChoicePoint, told the court that data breaches of this type are extremely rare and knew of only one other case like it. He said the company sent out notices to more than 32,000 people whose personal information was compromised by the scheme.
"With their combined extensive and nationwide perspective, those entities place this fraud scheme at or near the top of their historical lists in terms of size and complexity," Chase said in court documents.
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