News Star newspaper

Don’t spare my brother, Yar’ Adua tells Waziri
• EFCC alleges enemies within

ROTIMI WILLIAMS and ADESINA WAHAB
Following criticisms from home and abroad about the slow pace of the war against corruption since she assumed office some months ago, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mrs Farida Waziri, has been warned by President Umaru Yar ‘Adua to wake up in the fight against corruption or risk being shoved aside.
Yar’Adua handed down the warning to Waziri when he summoned her to the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday.
Sources said the President, having been receiving complaints about the slide in the activities of the anti-graft body, had to mandate Waziri to be ready to step on toes, if necessary.
The President, in showing his determination that he wouldn’t want Waziri to consider anybody as a sacred cow, reportedly told her “Even if it is my brother or friend that is involved, arrest and prosecute the person, if you have proof of his culpability.”
The President only added that he would not tolerate a situation where people would be kept in custody indefinitely.
Critics have accused the current administration of insincerity in the fight against corruption.
They accuse the government of selective justice and turning the other cheek when people close to the President have cases to answer with the EFCC.

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How new ministers lobbied Turai for juicy posts
•Yar’Adua nominates Ekaette, Udenwa, Babalola as ministers

ROTIMI WILLIAMS and
  OGAH JOMBO
Abuja — With President Umaru Yar Adua set to inaugurate 16 new ministers today, their  supporters have carried their lobby to get them juicy posts to the wife of the President, Alhaja Turai.
The ministers approached the wives of their state governors to help them talk to the First Lady, as she is seen as a power broker in Aso Rock.
News Star learnt that two of the  ministers that are very close to the President have been staying in Aso Rock since their nomination.
The two (names withheld) are sure of being given two portfolios considered juicy.
The 14 others, not wanting to be outdone, have been staying at a popular hotel in Abuja where they make constants contact with those lobbying on their behalf.
Among the strategies employed is the sending of gifts to Turai, hiding under the guise of the festive period.
The avalanche of gifts got to a point that Turai had to order security agents not to take any more gifts on her behalf.
Already,
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Task Force arrests prostitutes on ship
•Impounds unlicensed cargo vessel

Our Correspondent
Lagos —  In confirmation of reports that there is a thriving sex trade on the nation’s waterways, the Inter-Agency Maritime Security Task Force has announced the arrest of several young Nigerian women aboard a ship anchored hundreds of kilometres off the nation’s coast during a security operation.
That was the submission of the chairman of the Task Force, Commodore Dele Ezeoba , who spoke at a public hearing on the illegal activities on Nigerian waters conducted at the auditorium of the NNS Quorra, Apapa, Lagos. The task force had sat for two days in Lagos before embarking on an on-the-spot assessment of the sea which involved their inspection of ships anchored at the Lagos Bar.

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Bank robberies: Security beefed up in Ile-Ife

  HAMEED OYEGBADE
Osogbo — Men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad SARS under the Osun State Police Command will remain in Ile-Ife because of fear of a fresh attack following Monday’s onslaught on five banks by armed bandits in which at least 10 residents were killed.
While the rest of the bandits escaped into town after the driver of their get-away car was shot by the police, two others were apprehended and are now helping the police in their investigations.
Police sources told News Star yesterday that the SARS squad is making frantic efforts to find the hoodlums before they sneak out of Ife town. Already, all exit and entry points into the historic Yoruba town had been closed as news of the robbery spread on.

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AC candidate raises alarm over Bayelsa’s debts

OSA OKHOMINA
Yenagoa —  The defacto leader of opposition group and governorship flag bearer of the Action Congress (AC) in Bayelsa State, Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, yesterday, after a review of the 18 months administration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, expressed misgivings over what he called failed policies’, lack of infrastructural development and rising debt profile of the state.  
Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, said though there is still room for amendment and change in those failed policies of the present administration, the Governor Timipre Sylva administration’s failure to desist from policies of loan procurement, intra-party conflict rather than development will permanently derail the Bayelsa project in the state.
The Action Congress (AC) governorship candidate in the ordered rerun governorship polls in the state, Prince Ebitimi Amgbare, who spoke in Yenagoa yesterday with a cross section of professionals and media practitioners at the now popular ‘Parliament’, said he has not been impressed so far with the lack of vision and sincerity displayed by the present administration since they were returned at the bye-election.
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Niger probe panel summons ex-army chief

MOHAMMED  ABUBAKAR
Minna — The Commission of Inquiry sitting in Minna has given another order for former Chief of Army Staff in the Second Republic, General Muhammadu Wushishi, to appear before it after failing to appear on Monday as earlier summoned by the commission.
Similarly, the former governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abdulkadir Kure, has threatened to go to court to seek redress for super-imposing his approval when he was the governor of the state as evidence before the commission.
The commission which was set up to probe the eight-year administration of Governor Kure had two weeks ago issued an order of summon for General Wushishi to appear before it over the purchase of sub-standard tractors supplied by his company.
Represented at the commission on Monday by a counsel, Barrister Iro Agarachi Anthony, General Wushishi said that there was no new fact he would offer the commission, adding that already the managing director of his company, Metargo, the supplier of the tractors, had already stated the position of the company.
 General Wushishi’s counsel said since the request for General Wushishi to appear was not that of the commission but that of a witness (former Governor Kure), it was not a compulsion for the former army chief to appear.
Apparently maintaining the same position with the counsel to General Wushishi, the counsel to the commission, Barrister Ndagi Wali, stated that it was left for the commission to decide, but in a swift reaction, the counsel to former Governor Kure stated that there were instances in the past where some people refused to appear before the commission and they were sanctioned, adding that nobody should be seen above the law or else it would serve as a form of witch-hunt of his client if General Wushishi failed to appear.

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Kidnapping: Ondo finance commissioner arrested

JULIUS FULANI
Akure — The Ondo state Commissioner for Finance and Economic Planning, Chief Tayo Alasoadua was on Monday evening picked up by officials of the State Security Services (SSS) in Akure, the state capital.
Although reasons for his arrest were still sketchy at the time of this report, our correspondent learnt that it may not be unconnected with investigations into allegations that the commissioner was involved in the kidnap of an SSS detail attached to the Chairman of Akure North Local government, Mr. Ebenezer Alabi over a disagreement on how to spend the council finances.
Alabi, who was once a Personal Assistant (Political) to Alasoadura before the relationship between the duo became frosty, is said to have incurred the wrath of his former boss after he began to assert himself after over a year of pandering to Alasoaduro’s wishes in terms of the preferred policy thrust of the council.

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MMA2 takes orphans on charity flight

Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2) has been designated the official departure and arrival terminal for the 2008 Charity Flight for 100 orphans slated for today.
The flight, put together by Aerocontractors Company with massive logistic support from Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited, operators of MMA2, is to give pleasurable flight experience to the orphans and offer them a wonderful treat this season.
Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BASL, Mr. Alex Van Elk, noted in a statement issued on Monday that the MMA2 would do as much as it could to give the children the warmth, comfort and hospitality offered by the world-class terminal.
“In the last one-and-a-half years of operations, MMA2 has proved to be touristy and pleasurable as a brand while BASL, as a responsive and responsible corporate citizen, has
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Operators seek reversal on relocation of aviation agencies

ADESINA WAHAB
Lagos — With the removal last month of Mr. Felix Hyat, as the Minister in charge of the Aviation Ministry by President Umaru Yar ‘Adua, stakeholders in the aviation sector are hopeful that the directive for agencies in the ministry to relocate to Abuja may be reversed.
Investigation by News Star revealed that the directive by Hyat for the agencies to move to Abuja did not go down well with stakeholders and opinion leaders in the sector, who viewed it as being unnecessary given the fact that Lagos is the hub of aviation activities in the country.
Also, it was discovered that there was no budgetary allocation for such movement by the Federal Government in the 2008 budget.

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Parents cautioned against using children for alms

CAJETAN NKWOPARA
Owerri — Parents of a set of quadruplets in Owerri, Mr and Mrs Odinaka Njoku, have been enjoined to raise their children with the fear of God and joy at all times, and shun every tendency to abuse the children by using them to beg for alms.
Wife of Imo State Governor, Barr Chioma Ohakim said this in Owerri when she visited the Njoku family to rejoice with them on the safe delivery of a set of four baby girls in the family recently.
Represented by the state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Barr Ngozi Njoku, Ohakim said the visit was as a result of her concern about the welfare of the children and their parents on how they were feeding despite the sudden rise in expenses.
She said the government of Imo State is passionate about developing the family and providing children an enabling environment to grow, adding that children and youths are important in every society.

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Food crisis: NGO warns FG against biotechnology

SUNDAY ONYEWONSA
Lagos — The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has warned that the Federal Government’s decision to pander to the dictates of local or foreign modern biotechnology promoters of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is tantamount to voiding the precautionary principle and surrendering Nigeria’s food sovereignty to colonialists whose only interest is profit and turning Nigeria into a dumping ground for unproven technologies.
ERA/FoENs admonition is based on government’s decision to embrace the “gene revolution,” which informed a resolution to sign a memorandum of understanding with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) in Kenya to introduce biotechnology products to Nigerian farmers.
Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, Abba Ruma, had told a recent workshop on biotechnology and food security organized by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Plateau State that Nigeria still spent US$3 billion annually on food importation.

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Why we recruited 3, 000 health workers since 2007 – Yuguda

TIMOTHY DANKA
Bauchi — In a bid to make health care delivery service available to the common man and reduce infant, maternal and under-five years mortality and morbidity in Bauchi State, the state government has in the last 18 months recruited 3,000 health workers.
Governor Isa Yuguda who stated this while commissioning two new general hospitals in Azare and Giade at the weekend said the massive recruitment exercise was embarked upon to address the problems the administration inherited in the sector which was characterized by “highly centralized and inefficient ministry of health, dilapidated and collapsing health infrastructure across the state, demoralized, inadequate and poorly paid health workers, lack of a viable state policy on health issues and  poorly performing health training schools with rundown facilities”.
The governor outlined some of the areas the administration had touched the health sector to include the recruitment of 3,000 health workers, provision of free drugs and nutritional supplements to expectant mothers, infants and under-five children as well as the procurement of 30 new ambulances at the cost of over N476 million which have been supplied and are awaiting distribution.

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More controversy trails shot ‘female robbery kingpin’

TOYOSI OGUNSEYE
Days after the police in Ogun State shot and publicly displayed the alleged female leader of an armed robbery gang, the Police Public Relations officer(PPRO) in the state, Mr. Sunny Ubua, has said, “We are not in a position to say if she’s a robber or not. She was killed during a cross-fire and investigation is ongoing.’’
Ubua was reacting to reports that the slain woman, who was identified as Funmilayo, was an innocent worker of the Demirs Farms, Sagamu. 
Funmilayo allegedly led the robbery operation at the Sagamu Branch of the First Bank of Nigeria PLC.
A report in a national newspaper quoted a relative of the employer of the late woman who said that Funmilayo was on her way to buy fuel for the farm’s generator and decided to hide in the bush as a result of the shooting.
The source was quoted: “Funmilayo had been working with our farm for two
years. Our farm is situated at the back of Remo Secondary School, Sagamu. She
lived at Waterworks, Isale Oko Garage (Motor Park) area of Sagamu.
 “She decided to hide in a nearby bush where she called the farm to tell the other assistants that there were shootings and that they should be careful if they chose to leave the poultry farm. That was where she was caught in the cross fire.
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