Deadly attack in Plateau state leaves 37 dead

Gunmen have killed 37 people in a pre-dawn raid in Nigeria's central Plateau state, the military has said.

Herdsmen from the Fulani ethnic group carried out the attack on villages inhabited mostly by the Berom community, a local organisation said.

Plateau state has been hit for years by inter-ethnic and religious violence, which has killed thousands.

It lies on the fault line between Nigeria's mainly Muslim north and mostly Christian and animist south.

Most Fulani are Muslim and Berom are Christians.

Military spokesman Salisu Mustapha said the gunmen opened fore on residents in four villages at around 0100 GMT.

"The attackers killed... 13 persons in Katu Kapang, eight in Daron, nine in Tul and seven others in Rawuru," he said, in a statement.

However, Fatima Njokwu, who works for the Stefanos Foundation, a Christian group in Nigeria, said three villages were raided.

Fulani herdsmen carried out the attack on the mainly Berom communities, she told the BBC Hausa Service.

The long-standing rivalries between communities stem from a dispute about who are the area's rightful inhabitants, tensions often whipped up by local politicians, correspondents say.

BBC

Switzerland to investigate 6.8 billion dollar fraud between Nigerian and Swiss companies

Switzerland is ready to assist Nigeria in the ongoing investigations into the alleged more than 6.8 billion dollars (N1.1 trillion) fraudulent oil deals involving the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and Swiss oil trading companies.

Mr. Hans-Rudolf Hodel, the country’s ambassador to Nigeria, made the pledge in Abuja yesterday.
Hodel told reporters that though no formal request for assistance had been made to his government on the issue by any representative of the Nigerian government, both countries had an existing mutual legal assistance.

This, he said, entails providing banking information and freezing of bank accounts, “if such accounts are identified in the criminal proceedings.”
Hodel said that the report issued by the Swiss-based NGO, Berne Declaration, which highlighted the transactions between NNPC and Swiss companies, did not represent the official position of the Swiss government.

Vangaurd

President Goodluck Jonathan thanks Nigerians

President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, returned to the country and thanked Nigerians for the show of love extended to him while he was indisposed in London.
He also confirmed that he will have a meeting with the group of seven governors who are estranged from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, this week despite the seeming escalation of the crisis between the governors and the party.

The governors on their part were meeting last night to perfect their positions preparatory to meeting the President.
Speaking with reporters shortly after he arrived at the Presidential Wing of Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, from London, President Jonathan also confirmed that he had received the report of the committee he set up to investigate the purchase of armoured vehicles by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, allegedly for the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah.

The President, however, did not say whether government has taken action on the report of the committee.

The President, had on October 23, instituted a three-man administrative panel of inquiry to probe the procure-ment of two bullet-proof cars for the Aviation Minister.
The three-man panel, which was chaired by the immediate former Head of Service of the Federation, Isa Sali Bello, also has the National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dakusi and another defence intelligence expert, Dick Iruenebere, as members.

The panel was mandated to investigate the minister’s role in the procurement process and determine whether the process complied with due process.

He told journalists: “I had health challenges. I thank God and I thank Nigerians for the concern they showed. I appreciate the show of love and concern by Nigerians.
“On Wednesday, even though I was in London, I read how people congratulated me, remem-bering my birthday that I don’t normally celebrate anyway.

“I really had some health challenges and I have to thank God again that I am very okay to resume work from this night (yesterday).

“The most important thing is that I am back. You will expect that when you are holding a political office as the president of a country, anything that affects you attracts a lot of attention.

“If the President is sick, this alone will definitely cause apprehension even if you don’t know the ailment.”

On meeting with G-7 govs
The President said: “I believe within the week we will be able to meet. Politics is about discussion. We belong to the same political party.
“Even people from different political parties engaged in political discussion and political discussion is a continuous process.
“Even during elections people discuss. So we will continue to discuss.”

Vangaurd

President Goodluck Jonathan takes ill in London

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has been taken ill and given medical treatment while overseas, but his condition is not said to be serious.

The president was in London for a business meeting, but could not attend.

"The Presidency wishes to assure all Nigerians that President Jonathan's condition is nothing serious," his aide Reuben Abati said in a statement.

He said the medical attention sought by the 56-year-old president was "only precautionary".

Mr Jonathan has been president since 2010, when his predecessor died in office and he was promoted from vice-president.

In recent days he was forced to delay presenting the annual budget to the national assembly indefinitely due to disagreements between the executive and legislators.

Mr Jonathan is also facing serious divisions within his own party, as rival factions jockey for power ahead of the 2015 presidential poll.

He is also battling an Islamist uprising in the north of Nigeria which has killed thousands.

BBC

About 200 Nigerian women illegally trafficked to Russia monthly

No fewer than 200 Nigerian girls are trafficked every month to Russia for prostitution, the nation’s ambassador to that country, Amb. Asam Asam has said.
Asam, who spoke against the backdrop of consular challenges faced by the embassy, disclosed this in an interview in Berlin.

Investigations reveal that the crime had decline in Western Europe following strict laws on illegal migration, and joint efforts by Nigeria and the governments of those countries to curb the menace.
However, attention has shifted to Eastern Europe as the new destination for the trade.

“The major consular challenge we face in Moscow is the influx of trafficked persons from Nigeria, not less than 200 girls are trafficked every month, and we have so many of them exposed to danger.
“Some are thrown out of the window and treated harshly, there must be a way of stopping these racketeering , these girls are not tourists, students or government officials yet they are given visas from the Russian embassy in Abuja”.

“So far we have deported over 240 girls since 2012, you will be shocked, at the extend of resistance from the girls, we tell them Russia is not a destination for prostitutes yet they still come” Asam said.
According to him, the mission tries to curb the menace by arranging deportation exercise for those caught, but the challenges are enormous.

The envoy said such intervention would be more effective at the point of entry “the strategy is to stop them from Nigeria, and fish out those involved in the trade.
“For instance a well known Russian human trafficker who has been in the trade for about 20 years was caught in Nigeria,’’

“The National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons( NAPTIP) was on the verge of releasing her before I filed a protest from Moscow to the Comptroller General of Immigration,” Asama stressed.

He said even the parents of those trafficked encourage their children:
“I spoke to the mother of one of the girls and she said her daughter should remain in Moscow and try to survive the ordeal, this is very sad indeed coming from one’s parent.’’

He tasked the media on sensitising the public on the dangers of trafficking in Russia,“this East European nation has become a new destination for them, and believe me it is a very big crime here.’’
Asam, however, said that other Nigerians who reside in that country were students, and professionals in various fields of human endeavours.

Vanguard

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