The Nigerian Army on Friday said soldiers would be on standby to forestall possible violence in Saturdays council elections in Rivers.

Col. Aminu Iliyasu, Spokesman of the Nigerian Army 6 Division, Port Harcourt, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that soldiers would be deployed at strategic points several kilometres away from polling centres.

He explained that the army was adopting that position because we are not directly involved in the election and no soldier is going to be deployed for any election duty.

According to Iliyasu, it is only the Police and Department of State Security that have the constitutional responsibility to provide security in the election.

However, we are always on alert whenever there is election. We will only be on standby at the periphery in case our services are needed, he said.

Iliyasu said that soldiers were banned from going into polling centres and escort polling materials to the centres.

The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) will conduct the elections in the 23 local government areas of the state.

(NAN)

Donald Trumps former campaign chief, Paul Manafort was sent to jail Friday pending trial on a series of federal charges.

Manafort, who is facing money laundering and tax evasion charges among others, was the first former Trump campaign aide to be jailed in the sprawling probe led by special counsel Robert Mueller since May 2017.

The revocation of Manaforts bail was a fresh sign of the looming collision course between Mueller and Trump, with the White House increasingly worried that the president could face obstruction of justice charges and an impeachment effort in Congress.

Manafort, 69, had been under house arrest while awaiting trial in both the US capital and Virginia. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, which also include obstruction of justice.

Trump condemned the treatment of Manafort, a veteran Washington political consultant, as he sought to paint Muellers team as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation which Mueller once ran as deeply biased and illegitimate.

Wow, what a tough sentence for Paul Manafort, who has represented Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and many other top political people and campaigns, Trump wrote on Twitter.

Didnt know Manafort was the head of the Mob, he said. Very unfair!

Earlier, Trump lashed out at the entire investigation, labelling it a ridiculous witch hunt after a Justice Department watchdog report revealed that several FBI investigators had sent anti-Trump text messages during the 2016 campaign.

There was no collusion, there was no obstruction, and if you read the report what youll really see is bias against me, Trump said.

Manafort, who is facing trial later this year on money laundering charges involving his work for Ukraine that predated the 2016 presidential election, saw his bail revoked by Judge Amy Berman Jackson over claims he was trying to influence witnesses in his case.

He is one of 20 people and three companies already indicted by Mueller, who is investigating whether members of the campaign colluded with Russia during and after the election.

Muellers team has been seeking to interview Trump as well, and questions they have submitted to the White House indicate that they are also investigating whether Trump has illegally interfered with the probe.

On Friday, Trump sought to make use of the Justice Department inspector generals report on the 2016 investigation into Hillary Clintons use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state to erode confidence in Muellers operation.

While the IG report made almost no mention of Mueller or any alleged wrongdoing by Trump, the president claimed it exonerates him, while his lawyer Rudy Giuliani said Mueller and his team themselves should be investigated.

The report yesterday may be more important than anything. It totally exonerates me, Trump told journalists in front of the White House.

The report faulted the FBI and its former director James Comey, whom Trump fired in May 2017, over the handling of the Clinton email probe.

It said Comey, who cleared Clinton of allegations of mishandling classified materials, was insubordinate and guilty of bad judgment.

It also showed several agents involved in both that investigation and the subsequent Russia meddling probe repeatedly expressing anti-Trump bias in private text messages.

That is probably the tip of the iceberg, Trump said. There was total bias, I mean total bias.

He referred to Comey and other senior FBI officials as the scum at the top of the bureau and as total thieves.

*AFP

Source: NAN

Three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker announced Friday he is claiming diplomatic immunity from bankruptcy proceedings in Britain as an ambassador for the Central African Republic.

Lawyers for the 50-year-old tennis player, a former world number one, lodged a claim Thursday in the High Court asserting immunity after he was appointed a sports attache for the Central African Republic in April.

Becker who won six Grand Slams in the 1980s and 90s was declared bankrupt by a London court in June 2017 for failing to pay a long-standing debt.

But his position as attache to the European Union on sporting, cultural and humanitarian affairs could be covered by the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

This means the consent of Britains Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and his counterpart in Bangui would be needed before Becker is subjected to any legal proceedings, his lawyers said.

The bankruptcy application was made by private bankers Arbuthnot Latham

This is not the best of times for Real Madrid forward, Cristiano Ronaldo who has reached a deal with the Spanish tax authorities to serve two years in prison in a tax evasion case.

The El Mundo Newspaper reported on Friday that the player would also pay 18.8 million euro (16.41 million pounds) fine.

According to the publication, Ronaldo accepted four fiscal offences before the tax authorities, each of which carries a punishment of six months in prison.

But, Ronaldo is unlikely to serve any time in jail under the deal because Spanish law states that a sentence of under two years for a first offence can be served on probation.

The 33-year-old Portuguese footballer, who is accused of evading 14.7 million euros in taxes, has denied all the allegations through his agents.

The news dropped just hours before Portugal’s opening match of the World Cup against Spain.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan thrice rebuffed suggestions he bestow the Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic honour onChief MKO Abiola.

Mr. Kola Abiola, the eldest son of the winner of the June 12, 1993 Presidential election, Chief MKO Abiola made the revelation in a Channels TV interview broadcast on Thursday night.

He said Jonathan rejected the suggestion for political reasons.

According to MKOs son, he first approached the then Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), to honour his father during the Centenary celebration in January 2014 but a gold award was given to the deceased, which was rejected by the family.

Kola said during his second attempt, he wrote a letter to Jonathan through the Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, during the build-up to the 2015 elections but nothing was done.

He said even after Jonathan had lost and was preparing to leave office, he made another attempt to get him to honour MKO but it failed again.

Kola Abiola said, Towards the election, I approached them again, this time in writing, and solicited the help of Pastor Bakare and told them that even if it was for selfish political reasons, this was something you could do to help your chances of winning elections.

I really didnt mind how he got it done. But we couldnt get President Jonathan to get it done so we left that.

After he lost the election, I approached him a second time also through the same Pastor Bakare to try to get him to do this as a legacy of his Presidency, something that Nigerians would never forget about him. Last minute, we couldnt get it to happen.

Abiolas son said after President Muhammadu Buhari took office, he sent a letter through Pastor Bakare again to take to the President who was in Kaduna at the time.

He said Buhari bought into the idea and exceeded the expectations of the Abiola family as he did not only honour the deceased with the highest title in the land but also issued an apology to his family on behalf of the Federal Government.

Kola noted that he did not approach former President Olusegun Obasanjo to honour his father because he felt there was no point doing so as the answer would have been obvious.

He, however, said he approached the late President Umaru YarAdua, who promised to address the issue but died in office.

When asked his view on Jonathans naming of the University of Lagos as Moshood Abiola University, Lagos, Kola said, That was a mistake. They were trying to regionalise MKO. He was beyond that. This man was voted across Nigeria irrespective of religion.

I went back to them and told them if they had consulted me, I would have told them what to do.

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Source: NAN

Gov. Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State said he had dropped his responsibility as Chief Security Officer of the state as he had no control over security machinery in the state.

Speaking to newsmen in Talata-Mafara on Friday, Yari said that his decision stemmed from the seeming helplessness of the state government and the people over recurring killings in the state.

He deplored the prevailing situation where as the chief security officer of the state, he could not take decisions on strategies for protecting the state and its people, and had it implemented.

We have been facing serious security challenges over the years, but in spite of being governor and Chief Security Officer of the state, I cannot direct security officers on what to do nor sanction them when they err.

As Chief Security Officer, the nomenclature in just a name, he said.

The governor lamented that it was disheartening that killings in the state had continued in spite of the President Muhammadu Buharis order to security agencies to end the incessant blood-letting across the country.

According to him, since the presidents order, the killings have not stopped. In a week there were attacks in this state which claimed over 30 lives.

He said that the state government was spending huge amount of its resources on security but to no avail.

Yari, therefore, urged people of the state to be more faithful to God and embark on special prayers over the challenges facing the state.

He also appealed to them to be patient and continue to cooperate with the government and security agencies as steps were being taken to address the challenges.

We cannot keep quiet while our people are being killed daily. We are going to cooperate with all stakeholders to bring the situation to an end, he added.

Source: NAN

Vice president Yemi Osinbajo says Edo in the last one decade has retained its status as a reference point with regards to good governance in the country.

Osinbajo gave the commendation at a state dinner held in his honour at the Edo Government house in Benin on Thursday following the vice presidents two-day official visit to the state.

He expressed satisfaction with the efforts of the Gov. Godwin Obaseki-led administration in Edo to re-enact the developmental strides recorded during the administration of late Dr Samuel Ogbemudia.

The vice president gave an assurance of the preparedness of the Federal Government to give the state all the necessary support.

He said the various projects which informed his visit to Edo would no doubt help boost the economy of the state, especially the Federal Government South-South Innovation Hub.

In his remarks, Obaseki expressed gratitude to the vice president for the continued support to Edo.

He said several initiatives of the Office of the Vice President had provided employment and source of income for youths in the state.

The N-Power and N-build programmes have remained major sources of encouragement for the state in its drive for greatness, he said.

The Deputy Governor of Edo, Phillip Shaibu, in his address of welcome solicited for more support from the Federal Government to enable the entrenchment of its developmental programmes in the state.

An highlight of the occasion was the announcement by Obaseki of full scholarship to Miss Obakpolor Esosa, a Senior Secondary School student of Idia College, following her presentation on the menace of human trafficking. (NAN)

Source: NAN

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has discovered high level of survival sex in Cameroonian refugees camps in Cross Rivers state.

UNFPA stated that the women involved in the communities were not protected with condoms.

It has, therefore, set up non-traditional condom outlets in the refugees settlements.

The intervention is to increase access to condoms in communities hosting refugees, who fled from crisis hit Anglophone Southern Cameroon.

UNFPA said that after carrying out a joint needs assessment, it was discovered that there was high level of transactional sex without access to condoms in the communities.

We have done this before but we are improving on it; it is like a stop gap response.

We discovered there was high level survival sex in these communities and the women are not protected, it said on Friday.

The condom outlets target Ikom, Obanliku, Boki, Akamkpa and Etung Local Government Areas of the Cross River.

The Project Coordinator for UNFPA, Dr Idowu Araoyinbo, said on Friday that the global body did a mapping to identify the health care providers close to the benefiting communities.

Araoyinbo said that volunteers, including refugees, were engaged as focal persons to distribute and enlighten people in their wards on the benefits and proper usage of condoms.

We organised town hall meetings which served as information dissemination points to the communities on the availability of condoms in strategic locations and how they could utilise them effectively, he said.

Araoyinbo said the body also carried out capacity building which served as a platform to link the volunteers to the patent medicine vendors, the hot spots and the health care facilities where the condoms would be picked up.

He said a similar project had been carried out in the past which was not sustainable.

He said the volunteers picked up the condoms from the health care centres, took them to the communities where they were given to the patent medicine vendors that already had dispensers available.

The dispensers, he said, were for control and were placed conspicuously in patent medicine stores so that the condoms were made available free of charge to communities.

The major challenge now is how the patent medicine dealers would be able to allow access because they dont work 24 hours, but we hope to check this through the hot spots, he said.

Araoyinbo stated that he foresaw a future where patent medicine dealers would imbibe the culture of providing free condoms to their communities.

We told them that this would make them popular as there was nowhere in the world where people dont love business men who go beyond business to provide free humanitarian services, he said.

He, however, said that though the project was aimed at sensitising people on condom usage, the best form of prevention still remains abstinence.

Araonyinbo also noted that statistics had shown that the sexual debut of Nigerian youths had dropped to about 17 years for girls and 21 for the boys, adding that efforts must be made to protect them

Our youths initiate sex early these days most of which are done without protection increasing the rate of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases in our society.

Because most new HIV cases are found among the youths, the need to preach the use of condoms could not be over emphasised, he said.

The project is being carried out in partnership with the Nigeria Red Cross, Cross River Primary Health Care Agency, State Ministry of Health as well as patent medicine dealers in Benue and Cross River.

Source: NAN

The Methodist priest and two others abducted in Iwo-Ibadan road on Sunday, by suspected bandits, have been released.

They were released on Thursday, according to report from the Methodist Church, Osogbo.

According to the report from the church, the kidnapped persons, who are members of the church, were released on Thursday night, around 8.20p.m.

Confirming the release to newsmen, the Bishop of the Methodist Church, Osogbo Diocese, Most Rev. Amos Ogunrinde, said the priest, Very Rev. Kayode Akande, and the two other leaders of the church that were kidnapped had been released and reunited with their families.

Ogunrinde, however, did not disclosed if any ransom was paid before the kidnapped men were released by the bandits.

When the state Police Public Relations Officers, Mrs Folashade Odoro was contacted about the report, she said the police would release a statement about the whole incident later.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the a Priest and two elders of the Methodist Church, Osogbo were kidnapped on Sunday while returning from a mens fellowship from Ile-Ogbo, near Iwo, Osun.

The police were reported to have deployed men and officers to rescue the kidnapped persons while the bandits were never reported to have contacted the family of the men to demand for ransom (NAN)

Source: NAN

No fewer than 10 riders fell off their horses during Sallah Durbar at Dutse Emirs Palace on Friday,News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The incident happened during the mini durbar traditionally organised every year where the governor receives cheers and greetings from members of the emirate council from top of the Emirs palace.

The riders fell while racing to greet Gov. Muhammad Badaru of the state,after observing the Eid-el-Fitr prayer at the central prayer ground at about 8.30 a.m.

However, none of the riders sustain injury.

At the emirs palace, district heads take turns to greet the governor as they raced on their decorated horses, while the emir came last and exchanged greetings with his council members.

Source: NAN