NAIJAFEED

Monday, November 8, 2010

Five hostages taken from oil rig

Five people were taken hostage on Monday from an oil rig off the coast of Nigeria.

Two of them are believed to be French, according to a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson. The rig in the Delta region was attacked early Monday morning, according to the company that overseas it.

"We have indications concerning the abduction off Lagos and the possible presence of two French nationals among the people abducted," said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero. "We are looking to confirm these indications."

The British company that oversees the rig, Afren, said only that the oil rig in the Okoro oil fields was attacked and five crew members were likely taken hostage. Two other crew members were wounded.

"Two crew members are stable after receiving wounds to the leg, and have been evacuated by helicopter to a shore-based clinic," said the company in a statement.

The nationalities of the five hostages were not given, but a security source told the AFP news agency that there were two French, two Americans and a Canadian.

Kidnappings are frequent in the Niger Delta, Nigeria's oil production heartland, with groups calling for a better distribution of the country's oil wealth.

RFI

Kidnapping culture in Nigeria on the rise

President Goodluck Jonathan - Kidnapping is a National embarrassment |

Thursday, November 4, 2010

FIFA boss condemns vote sting

A senior FIFA figure has condemned an undercover investigation into World Cup bidding as "unethical".

The probe by the Sunday Times led to the suspension of two FIFA executive committee members, Nigeria's Amos Adamu and Tahiti's Reynald Temarii.

They were suspended after allegations that they asked for money for projects in return for World Cup votes.

The newspaper also alleged that Qatar's 2022 bid has colluded with the Spain/Portugal 2018 bid.

Mohamed Bin Hammam, the Qatari president of the Asian Football Confederation and a member of the executive committee which will vote on the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts, has now expressed doubts about the fairness of the newspaper's investigation.

His remarks will increase concerns that England's 2018 bid may suffer from a backlash by Fifa members unhappy at the Sunday Times sting and a programme currently being worked on by BBC Panorama.

Bin Hammam said on his website: "Forging identity, fabricating evidence and setting traps are unethical behaviours in my point of view.

"One thing about Middle East media, these are rare happenings there.

"Is it ethical to use unethical measures to protect the ethic?

"How can we serve justice and look for fairness by not acting justly and fairly? How will we clean dirty laundry by using dirty water?"

Bin Hammam also echoed FIFA president Sepp Blatter in conceding it was a mistake to have the 2018 and 2022 votes on the same day, 2 December.

He said: "We all underestimated the passion for the game around the world; we miscalculated how much football has influence over the feelings of people.

"By admitting that mistake, FIFA executive committee members realised how much it is impossible to demand from their member associations not to talk to each other about their bid.

"The World Cup is the largest business of FIFA. Collusion will always have a chance to happen as far as two bids will be decided together, but we all pray that no corrupted collusion will find its way to the bids."

Bin Hammam also revealed it was Uefa president Michel Platini who made the decisive intervention to prevent the 2022 vote being postponed until next year when he told last Friday's meeting 'we cannot change the rule of the game during the game'.

Daily Trust

FIFA suspends Nigeria

5 year-old boy hangs self

Panic gripped the people of Moferere, a suburb of Ajilosun quarters in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State at the weekend as a five-year-old boy, Feranmi Oloyede, hanged himself on a tree within the compound his parents lived.

The development has heightened the suspicion in the State Capital that some dare devil men must have perpetrated the act.

Though, the deceased, whose mother trades in wine at a shopping complex at Moferere junction, was suspected to be playing with a rope hanging from the tree when the incident occurred.

It was reliably gathered that the little boy, identified as a pupil of St. Luis Nursery and Primary School, Ikere-Ekiti, got access to the rope by mounting a high bench which had long been abandoned near the tree.

His lifeless body was said to have been discovered on the tree, which precluded anybody from rendering any help that could bring him back to life.

Feranmi's parents were said to have been kept in an undisclosed location within the state, probably to prevent being disturbed by sympathisers and other interested individuals.

Responding to the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Mr. Mohammed Jimoh, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), said the incident was not reported to the police.

Sources close to the parents of the boy said his remains had since been buried.

Daily Champion

Monday, November 1, 2010

Smuggled weapons seized in Nigeria

Nigeria security services seize hundreds of weapons in shipping containers. CNN's Christian Purefoy reports.

Video - MEND attack on independence day

FIFA keeps the nation in the dark over ban

Nigeria is still awaiting a formal confirmation from world football governing body FIFA that tit has fully lifted the ban on the country.

The Nigeria Football Association (NFA) has informed FIFA that it has met all the demands that would avert a ban on the country.

NFA Acting secretary general, Musa Amadu, has disclosed that he is still waiting on FIFA to pronounce total lifting of the ban now that all impediments have been cleared.

"FIFA announced that the ban on Nigeria has been provisionally lifted until Tuesday, October 26. That is a day after the matter in the Federal High Court in Lagos. That matter has been struck out and we quickly let FIFA know that there is no legal impediment stopping the NFF board from functioning," said Amadu.

"If the ban were to be imposed permanently, FIFA would have contacted us to inform us that those provisions have not been completed and as a result the ban will come into effect.

"We are waiting patiently and positively for FIFA to get across to us and let us know that there is no problem whatsoever, and that the board can continue to function and that Nigeria can return to the comity of football-playing nations of the world."

It has been gathered that a final pronouncement with regard to the ban on Nigeria will be made public at the end of the executive committee meeting of FIFA this week.

Daily Independent