AMAA 2016: Full List Of Winners

Despite losing two of the major awards of the night, Best Movie of the Year and Best Director awards to Burkina Faso and Ghana, Nigeria’s Nollywood weekend reaffirmed its solid place as Africa’s biggest film industry at this year’s African Movie Academy Awards,AMAA.

The country carted away 10 out of the 24 awards given out this year, beating South Africa, which won five awards and fast evolving Burkina Faso film industry also won four awards. Ghana came fourth, clinching three awards; Best Director award, won by Nana Obiri-Tenoah for his film, “The Cursed One,”Best Cinematography and Best in Production Design in Africa

The glamorous awards night held, weekend at Dr Obi Wali International Conference Centre, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

See full list of winners below:

AMAA 2016 Award for Best Short Film – Meet The Parents – Nigeria/Canada

BEST ANIMATION – The Pencil – Burkina Faso

BEST DOCUMENTARY – The Fruitless Tree –Niger

BEST DIASPORA SHORT – Across The Track – USA

AWARD FOR BEST FILM BY AN AFRICAN LIVING ABROAD – Lambadina – Ethiopia/USA

BEST DIASPORA FEATURE – Ben & Ara – USA

BEST DIASPORA DOCUMENTARY – Agents of Change

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN – Eye of the Storm

ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION DESIGN – The Cursed One – Ghana play

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKE-UP – Soldiers Story

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUNDTRACK – O-Town – Nigeria

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL ARTS – Oshimiri – Nigeria

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY – The Cursed One

ACHIEVEMENT IN EDITING – Hear me Move AMAA 2016 play AMAA 2016

ACHIEVEMENT IN SCREEN PLAY – Tell me Something Sweet

BEST FILM IN AN AFRICAN LANGUAGE – Missing God – Nigeria

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – Abidine Dioari – Eye of the Storm

BEST ACTRESS IN SUPPORTING ROLE – Thishiwe Ziqubu – Tell Me Something Sweet

BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE – Daniel K Daniel – Soldiers Story

BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE – Fulu Mugovhani – Ayanda BEST

FIRST FEATURE FILM BY A DIRECTOR – Beyond Blood – Greg Odutayo

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD – Olu Jacobs and Joke Silva

BEST FILM – Eye of the Storm – Burkina Faso

BEST DIRECTOR – Nana Obiri-Yaboah, Maximilian Clausse

BEST YOUNG / PROMISING ACTOR – Zubaidat Ibrahim Fagge – Dry

Belgium’s Wilmots ready for ‘warriors’ Italy

Belgium coach Marc Wilmots says he expects counterpart Antonio Conte to have prepared a team of “warriors” when Italy launch their Euro 2016 campaign on Monday.

Belgium come into the European Championship as the highest ranked team of the 24 in France and with lofty expectations after a 16-year absence from the tournament.

With Sweden and the Republic of Ireland also drawn in Group E, Wilmots expects a battle royal in their opening match in Lyon and says his side must get off to a good start.

“A win would give us confidence, but a defeat would shake everyone up, so we have to be on form right from the outset,” said the 47-year-old Wilmots.

“All the teams will have to work hard to survive this group and I think Italy are even more dangerous when they have their backs against the wall.

“Their coach will prepare a side of warriors and they will be ready to go the distance.”

Chelsea star Eden Hazard will captain Belgium at the Stade de Lyon with regular captain Vincent Kompany injured.

Even without Kompany’s experience, Wilmots expects his side to cope with the tag of title contenders.

“We have the tag of favourites, which might make the players nervous, but we will do everything in our power to make people enjoy themselves,” he said

Between Buhari and Fulani herdsmen

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari broadcast to the nation on May 29th 2016; a day dedicated to the celebration of democracy in Nigeria, once again brought to the front burner the question of where Mr President’s loyalty lies between the Nigerian Nation and the dreaded Fulani Herdsmen terrorising the whole country.

On the day, Mr President spoke to Nigerians, ditto the whole world; as the broadcast live to the whole globe through satellite , about the challenges facing his one-year administration and how he was tackling them. He brought Nigerians up to date on the war against Boko Haram. He touched on the new threats to our economic survival by the renewed militancy in the Niger Delta and told us how his government would deal with the Niger Delta Avengers. But surprisingly the President was silent about the most notorious Fulani Herdsmen’s activities, in a broadcast that went for almost an hour. Yet, the criminality of these Herdsmen is most likely to wipe the name of Nigeria out of the world map in the not-too-distant future if care is not taken.

Many people around the world who listened to that broadcast would not understand why Mr. President would chose to keep silent at a time of tyranny of the Fulani Herdsmen. Questions and more questions would arise from the president’s action. Is he afraid of the Fulani Herdsmen? Is he deliberately refusing to speak against their nefarious activities because of tribal affiliation? Is his silence his own way of encouraging the domination of the Fulani oligarchy to subdue the whole country? Or is this the quickest means of taking Islamic religion across the Sahara desert of the North to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean of the South? Even above all, the most famous question is who are these Fulani Herdsmen?

Permit me to submit that these are not the Fulani Herdsmen who have been around with us in this country for the past one hundred years. I grew up in my village with good knowledge of those sweet and friendly Fulani men with their sticks over their shoulders and enjoying the hospitalities of their host communities. They never carried any Dane gun, which every local hunter of those days possessed. They had with them only daggers, bow and arrows. No cutlasses and no swords.



 

They were at peace with every one and everyone was at peace with them. But today, the story is different as this new generation of Fulani Herdsmen are expert in both the usage and functionality of AK 47; a very sophisticated military weapon that is most deployed in every modern war because of its light flexibility, accuracy and rapidity in operation. This is what they carry about these days. Where did they get it from and who trained them to so efficient in its usage?

Again, who are these Fulani Herdsmen whom Mr. President would rather not talk about? The Chief of Army Staff, Lt- General Tukur Buratai, in a recent statement, disclosed that “these heavily armed ‘herdsmen’ had links with the world’s most murderous terror group; Boko Haram”. Here is the genuine unmasking of the Herdsmen by a most high ranking military officer who has helped in no small measures in dealing terribly with the Boko Haram insurgency. Officially and militarily he ought to be in the know of what Boko Haram and its affiliate are.

By this revelation, Fulani Herdsmen are more dangerous than the newly resurrected militants of the Niger Delta, far more dangerous that the IPOB of the South/East. Any affiliate of Boko Haram shall always remain the greatest threat to the corporate existence of Nigeria than any other entity – corruption inclusive. The reason being that in the recent past, Boko Haram has been classified as the number one bloodiest [this was March last year as it has dropped to number four position by March this year] of all the five most dangerous terrorist groups in the world. Others after Boko Haram are the Islamic State (ISIS), the Al Qaeda, the Taliban and Al Shabaab. In one word, Fulani Herdsmen is that ruthless and deadly branch of Boko Haram the same way the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force is to the Islamic State [or ISIS].

Why is the President not confronting this group if he knows that it is as deadly as analysed above? The answer could be found in one or two reasons. One, a few days ago, the Governor of Ekiti State; Ayo Fayose, revealed that Major General Muhammadu Buhari “led delegation of Cattle Owners Association of Nigeria to Ibadan in Oyo State, sometimes in the year 2000 to demand for explanation for the killing of herdsman in that State”. Major General Buhari did this, according to the Governor, “in his capacity as Grand Patron of the Cattle Owners Association then”. If that allegation can be proved that the President went on that errand [he was a private citizen then anyway], then one would really be very curious when the same man; now as President of the country, will not say a word when the same Herdsmen he represented at a time are now killing, maiming, raping and even kidnapping innocent people all over Nigeria.

Let us not forget in hurry that Mr. President, while being sworn-in on 29th May, 2015, disclosed his resolve to tackle “cattle rustlers” without mentioning the “Herdsmen”. Going through that speech again raises one naughty question. Was it deliberate that the President mentioned “cattle rustlers” as against “cattle [Fulani] herdsmen”. Rustlers are thieves or armed robbers whose speciality is stealing cows. Mr. President knows the difference between the two. Yet, he chose, in that speech, to tackle the cow thief instead of the murderous herdsman.

Where is Mr.President’s loyalty – to his kinsmen; the Fulani Herdsmen, or to Nigerians?

IS fighter behind Orlando shooting— jihadist-linked news agency

A fighter from the Islamic State group carried out Sunday’s mass shooting inside a gay club in Orlando, Florida, the IS-linked news agency Amaq said, quoting an unidentified source.

“The attack that targeted a nightclub for homosexuals in Orlando, Florida and that left more than 100 dead and wounded was carried out by an Islamic State fighter,” it said in a terse statement quoting a “source”.

The legend can still deliver’, warns Zlatan

Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Sunday warned Europe that “the legend can still deliver” as the Sweden captain prepares to make his mark on Euro 2016.

The 34-year-old, who has left Paris Saint-Germain after a prolific four-year spell, is back in the French capital for Monday’s European Championship Group E opener against the Republic of Ireland.

Sweden’s hopes of progressing from a group also containing Italy and Belgium rest largely on the brilliance of Ibrahimovic, who scored 11 times in the qualifying campaign.

When asked if he felt now was the time for him to dominate a major international tournament, he replied: “I have been dominating wherever I go. I have no issue about that.

“I am very confident. I go into the tournament with a strong season behind me and I am here in France, where I have been living for the last few years, to enjoy,” the told a press conference at the Stade de France.

“I feel I am getting better and better with every year that passes.

“What I do every day is play football. You have to have the hunger to become a better player, to learn new things and work hard on the pitch.

“If you want it you are able to do it. I know what I want and I know I am going to do it.

“The legend can still deliver,” he added.

When announcing his departure from PSG last month, Ibrahimovic said he “came like a king, left like a legend”. He will leave as PSG’s all-time record goal-scorer and having won 12 trophies at the Parc des Princes.

Monday’s game against Ireland will be played at the same ground where Ibrahimovic made his last appearance for PSG in their French Cup final win against Marseille three weeks ago.

He scored 50 goals in all competitions in his final, prolific campaign at PSG and, with his contract up, a move to Manchester United is on the cards.

Ibrahimovic insisted on Sunday that “there is nothing to say” about that possible switch, with his focus for now firmly on the Euros.

As captain of a team otherwise lacking in star quality, Ibrahimovic, set to play in his fourth European Championship, admits there is great responsibility on his shoulders.

“There are many new players in the group. We always have pressure and probably I have the greatest pressure on my shoulders,” he said.

“I want to take the pressure off the team. I am used to it. I want them to enjoy it, to go out and play. That is the only thing you can do.

“There is no greater honour than playing a European Championship for your country, so I am sure all players will give 200 percent for their country,” added the forward who, by scoring on Monday, will get ahead of Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo to become the first player to find the net in four separate European Championships.

Obama brands Orlando attack an act of ‘terror’ and ‘hate’

US President Barack Obama on Sunday expressed heartbreak at the “horrific massacre” of 50 late-night revelers in Orlando, branding it an act of terror and hate.

“Although it’s still early in the investigation, we know enough to say that this was an act of terror and an act of hate,” Obama said, later ordering flags at half-staff as an act of mourning.

Street urchins steal pot of stew in Delta

STREET urchins stole a steaming pot of stew being prepared by a food vendor at Obiaruku in Ukwuani Local Government Area, Delta State.

The food vendor, simply identified as Mrs. Agnes, sources said, claimed to have spent N6,000 in preparing the stew, explaining that she had gone to take her bath in preparation for the day’s business when the thieves arrived and made away with the pot of stew.

The source said the thieves, however, spared a pot of rice that was on a separate fire.

“They left the rice because it was still boiling,” the source said, adding: “Times are hard and incidents of petty robbery are on the rise in our community. Just last month, four small power generating sets, popularly known as `I pass my neighbour’ were stolen from some homes.

“In one of the incidents, the family members and friends were watching the UEFA Champions League final between the Madrid clubs when power supply from the generating set suddenly went off..

“They discovered too late that the generator had been moved from its original position. As a result, most people no longer leave their sets outside even it is working, and this is dangerous to the health of the people.”

Pope Francis condemns ‘senseless hatred’ of US gay club massacre

Pope Francis on Sunday condemned as “homicidal folly and senseless hatred” a massacre at a gay nightclub in the US in which at least 50 people died.

The attack “has caused in Pope Francis, and in all of us, the deepest feelings of horror and condemnation… before this new manifestation of homicidal folly and senseless hatred”, said a statement from the Holy See.

The attack in which a gunman opened fire at the packed nightclub in Orlando, Florida, is the worst mass shooting in US history.

“We all hope that ways may be found, as soon as possible, to effectively identify and contrast the causes of such terrible and absurd violence,” the Holy See statement added.

The FBI said they were investigating the possible radical Islamic “leanings” of the suspect, identified by US media as 29-year-old Omar Mateen, a US citizen of Afghan descent.

June 12 men, 23 years after: Where are they now?

PHENOMENAL! This ten-letter word best describes the June 12, 1993 presidential election presumably won by the late Chief Moshood  Kashimawo Abiola, fondly called MKO.

Of all  elections that preceded the exercise in Nigeria, June 12 stood out in every sense.

Indeed, the making of the event as a political memorial and source of unending national debate was a direct fall out of the actions of some principal characters.

They are but not limited to Gen Ibrahim Babangida (retd), Abiola, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, Chief Sylvester Ugo, Chief Tony Anenih, Chief Tom Ikimi and Chief Ernest Shonekan.

Others are  Chief Frank Ovie-Kokori, Paschal Bafyau, Sen  Arthur  Nzeribe, Justice Bassey Ikpeme, Justice Dahiru Saleh, Abimbola Davies, Prof. Omo Omoruyi, the late Gen Sani Abacha, Chief Clement Akpamgbo, SAN, and Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.

As each anniversary of June 12 struggles to put  the event in  proper perspective in Nigeria’s largely chequered socio-political narrative, Sunday Vanguard beams  its searchlight on the dramatis personae. What has happened to them since the poll, described as  a watershed in  Nigeria’s political history, and where are they now?

Babangida

For students of history, the name Babangida has been a recurring feature in  any discourse on June 12.

This was primarily provoked by his position as the President and Commander- in-Chief of the Armed Forces at that time on whose desk the buck stopped.

As head of the  then  Armed Forces Ruling Council – the highest decision making organ of the military junta – IBB, as he is fondly called, claimed the regime annulled the poll in the “interest of the state.”

In his June 26, 1993 broadcast to the nation, IBB said: “In the circumstance, the administration had no option than to respond appropriately to the unfortunate experience of terminating the presidential election. Our actions are in full conformity with the original objectives of the transition to civil programme.”

His administration was  acclaimed to have conducted the freest and fairest election in Nigeria history but ironically annulled  same.

Lately, rumour of his death had been making the rounds but the former President  debunked the speculation from Germany.

Since stepping aside on August 26, 1993, Babangida has been living in his Hilltop Mansion residence in Minna.

Abiola
 

Abiola was believed to have won the June 12 presidential election and was pronounced  so in June 2008, 15 years after, by the chief electoral umpire at the time of the poll, Prof. Humphrey Nwosu.

That was also ten years after Abiola’s death.

Abiola, a business mogul, became the presidential candidate of the defunct Social Democratic Party, SDP, having emerged after a fiercely contested primary on March 27, 1993 in Jos, that had Babagana Kingibe and Atiku Abubakar as his fellow  aspirants. One of richest Nigerians at that time and with great influence on  military rulers, it was easy for Abiola to become the frontline aspirant.

His colourful campaigns across the country proved it.

With the slogan, ‘Hope 93’, he tapped from his extensive goodwill arising from his legendary philanthropy across the country.

Abiola was known to have been conferred with chieftaincy titles from many places across the ethnic and religious divides. It was no surprise to many Nigerians that he won the poll by 58 percent.

But his decision to reject the annulment was the beginning of what is now known as the June 12 crisis.

Indeed, it is believed that had Abiola accepted the annulment, June 12 would have become like one of the several other political reversals that characterized the transition programme of the Babangida regime.

The election would have passed for any other national event. But by insisting on his mandate, the man, who abandoned the comfort that his money could guarantee to seek public service, largely made the event a watershed in the nation’s history.

His July 7, 1998 death at the verge of freedom literally brought to an end, the struggle for his mandate. Many issues thrown up by his travails are still unanswered till date.

Tofa

He was a largely unknown political figure at the point of his nomination as the candidate of the National Republican Convention  (NRC) for the June 12 presidential election.

The Kano based businessman was, however, known as a very wealthy man who had connections to the then ruling military class. His money, connections and political clout were, however, no match for Abiola who defeated him in his home state of Kano.

The suggestion that Tofa would play the good sportsman by conceding defeat failed and he as such played into the hands of those in the military who did not want the election to stand.

He has continued to defend the annulment to the effect that the agitation for the mandate was nonsense and the whole brouhaha about June 12  was fiction.

People who have nothing to offer this country or have nothing better to say can go on talking about June 12 because they have nothing else to say to help this country move forward,” Tofa had famously said.

Tofa currently resides in Kano where he sometimes comments on national  issues.

Kingibe

Kingibe was the Chairman of the SDP, the platform on which Abiola contested the election.

With immense influence upon the SDP governors, he became a major factor in the run up to the SDP presidential primary which Abiola won.

The governors were nevertheless determined to foist him on the ticket as Abiola’s running mate, a decision Abiola took at the expense of Atiku who was a loyalist of the powerful Shehu Musa Yar‘Adua.. It was the first time Nigeria would have a Muslim/Muslim presidential ticket but nonetheless successful. Following the annulment, Kingibe initially stood with Abiola but confidence in him among the pro-June 12 agitators gradually ebbed following his acceptance to serve in the  Abacha administration. A  Kanuri man like Abacha, some believed he betrayed Abiola by participating in the government that detained Abiola for five years.

The respected bureaucrat resurfaced on the national scene in the administration of the late President Yar’Adua as Secretary to the Government of the Federation. He reportedly fell out with that administration following what observers described as high-wire internal wrangling at the then Presidency.

Anenih

After Kingibe exited the office of National Chairman of the SDP, the lot fell on Anenih, who retired from the police over three decade ago and entered into business and politics.

Anenih was anointed the Chairman of the SDP with the blessing of the late Shehu Musa Yar‘adua being that he was also a member of the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM, one of the strongest blocs within the SDP led by Yar’ Adua.

Though Anenih  motivated his party to victory in the June 12 election, not long after the results were annulled, he was seen to have abandoned the cause of the SDP.

While political leaders and rights activists were agitating for revalidation, Anenih reportedly looked the other way, and, according to some sources, turned into a strategist for the military regime that detained the standard bearer of his party.

Having played key roles in the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, since 1999, the Edo State born political tactician is believed to have exited from active politics after his party’s defeat at the 2015 presidential election.

Ikimi

Ikimi was the National Chairman of the NRC who led his party to defeat in the June 12, 1993 election.

Like his party’s presidential candidate, Tofa, he refused to concede defeat and echoed the words of the military to justify the annulment of the results.

In his capacity as the NRC Chairman, Ikimi was allegedly a member of the committee that prepared the plan which produced the Interim National Government, ING.

The Igueben-born politician  also served in Abacha’s administration as Foreign Affairs Minister.

At the moment, he is a chieftain of the PDP having dumped the APC over the allegation that the party had been hijacked and issues relating  to the emergence of the party’s current National Chairman.

Shonekan

Chief Ernest Shonekan,  a  respected figure in the business community of that era, through his successful stewardship at the UAC, one of Nigeria’s leading blue chip companies, carved a niche for himself.

He was appointed by the Babangida administration  to head the transition cabinet at the beginning of 1993  known as the Transition Council.

With the annulment, Shonekan, a Yoruba of the Egba extraction like Abiola, was made the  Chairman of Interim National Government, ING, which was supposed to arrange  another presidential election.

His ING was eventually declared illegal-a development Abacha said informed his November 17, 1993 coup.

His acceptance to head the 32-man ING at the expense of his kinsman, Abiola, infuriated many, who dismissed him as an obstacle to social justice. The octogenarian currently lives in his Ikoyi home in Lagos, where he is a regular face at high profile events and National Council of State meetings.

Nzeribe

The Oguta-born mercurial figure had carved a contentious reputation as a spoiler through his Association for Better Nigeria, ABN.

In the days leading to the poll, he navigated the courts with several actions aimed at stopping the election. Alongside one Abimbola Davies and the mysterious Dr. Atkins, he raised fears among many Nigerians.

His action in obtaining a midnight court injunction on June 10 stopping the election in a court presided over by the late Justice Bassey Ikpeme was one of the reasons given for the annulment.

At the dawn of the Fourth Republic, Nzeribe was elected into the Senate. His failure at getting re-elected, in 2003, kick-started the decline of his presence on the national scene.

Ikpeme

Ikpeme made a ruling a few hours to June 12, 1993 to stop the presidential election from holding in a development that earned her the sobriquet ‘’Midnight Judge.’’

The ruling is believed to have contravened Decree No. 13 of 1993, which did not recognise the jurisdiction of the court on the matter. Ikpeme is deceased.

It was her first pronouncement on June 7, 1993 which suggested that the election was likely to be scuttled.

She had ordered Nwosu, Akpamgbo and Babangida to appear before her to justify why the exercise should hold after which she gave the judgment.

Saleh

An  Abuja High Court, presided over by Justice Dahiru Saleh, ordered  the then National Electoral Commission, NEC, to stop further announcement of election returns and subsequently declared the entire poll illegal on the grounds that it was held in contravention of a subsisting court order.

Defending his action in 2008, Saleh said both the late Ikpeme, who first ordered NEC not to conduct the election, and himself were only doing their job.

 Abacha

Abacha came to national limelight as the announcer of the military coup that ousted Second Republic  President Shehu Shagari from office in 1983.

Following that, he became a permanent feature in the military political chess game till November 17, 1993 when he acquired maximum power.

It was claimed by some that Abacha and Abiola reached an agreement for military intervention that would eventually lead to the transfer of power to him. Even if true, Abacha apparently did not have any interest in honouring it as his regime exploited the June 12 crisis by dismantling all democratic institutions and suppressing the agitation for the actualisation of the mandate.

His regime brought a reign of near bestiality that had never been seen in the country as the government used all instruments of power to sustain Abacha in office. Opponents were thrown into detention or forced into exile, and some were killed.

Abacha held on to power until he died in office on June 8, 1998.

Prof Humphrey Nwosu

Nwosu was the Chairman of the National Electoral Commission, NEC.

His supervision of the National Assembly and state legislative houses and the governorship elections were hailed as a huge success. Even though the June 12, 1993 presidential election was also largely successful, Nwosu’s failure to speak up in defence of the poll conducted by him, even if he was reportedly under military coercion, led many to lower the impression of his earlier actions.

Nwosu, now a retired Professor of political science, was silent on June 12 for about 15 years, until he spoke in 2008 revealing that he was putting down the events of June 12.

Till date, Nigerians are still awaiting Nwosu’s documented narrative which he said ‘’will generate a lot of discourse all over Nigeria.’’

How 11-yr-old girl became my sex slave– Ogunlade, suspected serial rapist

A large crowd which gathered at the Oyo State Police command, Eleyele Ibadan watched in  disbelief  as  a 65-year old man, Akinlolu Ogunlade, claimed that  pressures from  an 11- year-old girl  made him to keep her as  sex slave for four days.

According to him, he had rejected many invitations from  the girl before he finally succumbed.

While being paraded by the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Leye Oyebade, who described the suspect as a serial rapist,  Ogunlade said, “I am 65 yrs old and I work as a plumber. I was arrested at Akobo area. The little girl came over to me and started disturbing me to have sex with her and I told her that she was too small. I told her she could not  do something of such but she replied by telling me that she could do it.”

“I thereafter had sex with her two times and kept her in my custody just for four days.”

  When asked if he did not have a  wife,  he said,

“I am married but my wife is dead and I have only one child”.

The police alleged that the suspect specialised  in abducting teenage girls and keeping them in his hideout  as sex slaves.

Narrating how the  old man committed the alleged offence, the   CP said: “The victim, “Bisi (surname withheld)”, aged 11, left home on May 27 at about 8pm for a church vigil at Abidi-Odan area, Akobo, Ibadan but did not return home on Saturday and all efforts to locate her whereabouts proved abortive.”

“However on May 30,  at about 1630, police detectives, based on information, traced the victim to the hideout of the suspect at Abidi- Odan area of  Akobo, Ibadan where his victim was  rescued.”

Also paraded was an  alleged  ex-convict, Lekan Adewale, a.k.a Asumo, who had been on the police wanted list for  some time.

The police said, “Lekan, who had  been on the police wanted list, was  said to have been arrested with one black Toyota Rav 4 jeep with reg No. GGE 68 EC after being sighted along Idi-Ape/Iwo Road, Ibadan.

“He, however, confessed  to belonging to a three-man gang of armed robbers who had been responsible for series of armed robbery operations within Ibadan especially at challenge, Iwo  Road and Mokola.”

The robbery suspect told Sunday Vanguard what   led him to robbery.

“We are a three-man gang and I am an electrician but bad  friends  led me to this. I bought the black Toyota Rav 4 jeep at Cotonou late last year for N2.2m. The larger chunk of the money I got from my robbery operations was used to purchase the car”.

 

    

detectives attached to Ashi Police Division  also  arrested a two-man armed robbery gang which  robbed one Dr. Mrs Yetunde Aluko in Samonda area, Ibadan.

The suspects are Kelvin Eluwa, 31, and Adegboyega Tunji, 31.

According to the police, the  alleged bandits scaled the fence to gain entry into the house of their victim at about 8pm; hibernated in the compound till early morning when their victim came out. In a commando style, they dislocated her left arm, forced her inside, robbed her and other members of her family”.

The  victim, Aluko, narrated how the suspects attacked  her.

She said, “I woke up that  day around 7am and  opened the door to the kitchen just to step into the compound. I noticed a strange cloth beside my car and so I wanted to check what it was. Then, I   saw two strange men right inside my compound with knives and broken bottles in their hands. They actually wanted to stab me and I shouted blood of Jesus. I was trying to retreat from them and then one of them held my hand and twisted my hand to the back. Immediately, I was destabilised and I was pushed inside the house. Thereafter, one of my children woke up and saw me through the window and apparently thought it was a mad person that entered into the house. One of them later broke a bottle on the floor and asked my daughter and I to lie on it and he rushed into the study room and started packing all the laptops, trinkets, phones.

“When they were leaving, they asked for my car key but they couldn’t start the car. They later locked me and my daughter inside the car and we had to break the window to come out”.

The suspect, Tunji who claimed to be a university graduate, said, “My area is not far from where Kelvin usually comes to eat. I ventured into this as a result of extreme hunger and poverty. I just finished from OAU where  I studied  economics. I served at Ahmadu Bello University. I tried my best in getting a job but I couldn’t get any. I used to go out and teach some children but some of them will not pay me. We never planned to rob that day; we were only feeling hungry and my colleague told me that there was a rich man in that area and that a party would hold over there.

On getting there, we discovered that the party did not hold.   So, we decided to try our luck on the woman”.

The police alleged that one Segun Adekola, 30 , was a  member of a  ‘one-chance’  robbery gang who invaded a filling station along Omi Adio, Apata, Ibadan and dispossessed the attendants and customers N44,725, two Nokia phones worth N12,000, two Tecno phones worth N25,000 and one Sony phone  estimated to cost  N53,000.

However, luck ran out on  him when police operatives were alerted of their operation and this led to the arrest of Segun while others escaped into a nearby bush,”the CP said.

Shock as Army fires 200 officers

There was shock  in the Nigerian Army, with some hinting of ethnic and religious cleansing, as close to 200 officers including major generals were  retired, on  Friday, following what the authorities said was a consequence of service exigencies.

Several  generals were said to have reported for work with zeal  on Friday with no inkling that their fate  had been decided by the Army Council, only to be given letters which  turned out to be retirement letters. A sizeable number of those retired are said to be those that held operational positions like Brigade Commanders, Commanding Officers and other sensitive positions during the 2015 general elections as well as those that participated in the war against terror, now christened ‘Operation Lafiya Dole’.


   

Others allegedly had one or two roles to play in the procurement of army equipment and other logistics and may have been indicted by the Chief of Army Staff’s Committee that investigated arms, logistics and other procurements dating back to the tenure of former COAS, Generals Owoye Azazi, Abdurahman Dambazau, Azubuike Ihejirika and KTJ Minimah.

Some of the generals, who Sunday Vanguard gathered were in the list, include Major General MY Ibrahim, a former GOC 7 Division, Maiduguri, Major General Fatai Ali, a former Chief of Training and Operations, Army Headquarters, Major General Ilo, GOC 2  Division, Ibadan, Major General SD Aliyu, former DA China, Brig-General Lawson, Defence Adviser China, Brigadier General Mustapha Onoiveta, a  former ADC to  the late President Yar’Adua, Brigadier General Dahiru Abdusalami, Brigade Commander, Jos, and Brigadier General Bello, Acting Director, Operations.

A statement from Army headquarters, signed by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations on the retirements and  released at 12. 45am, on Friday, read, “The Nigerian Army wishes to inform the general public that quite a number of senior officers of the Nigerian Army were retired from service yesterday.

“Those retired were mainly some Major Generals, Brigadier Generals, Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels and a Major. “Their retirement was based on Service exigencies. It should be recalled that not too long ago some officers were investigated for being partisan during the 2015 general elections. Similarly, the investigation by the Presidential Committee investigating Defence Contracts revealed a lot. “Some officers have already been arraigned in court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). “People should therefore not read this out of context. “The military must remain apolitical and professional at all times”.

75% of Nigerian coaches are hypertensive – Bewarang

President of the Nigeria Football Coaches Association, Bitrus Bewarang has expressed shock at the sudden death of former Chief coach of the Super Eagles Amodu Shuaibu, a few days after the death of Coach Stephen Keshi who, like Amodu, also died in Benin City.

Bewarang, a seasoned coach said the frequent deaths in the coaches ranks should not come as a surprise because of the manner coaches were handled by their employers in Nigeria.

“Just when we are trying to come to terms with Keshi’s death, Amodu is now gone. The question is who’s next?” Bewarang started. “It’s high time the federal government wades into cases affecting coaches. In Nigeria, football coaches are hired, used and fired with employers most often, not fulfilling their contractual obligations.

“Many coaches, both at national and club levels are owed huge sums of money, long after their disengagements. By the nature of their jobs, 75% of Nigerian coaches are prone to hypertension and I expect they are treated fairly in order to curb this unfortunate incident of sudden deaths among us,”Bewarang posited.

Jonathan’s ADC among officers fired by Army

There was shock  in the Nigerian Army, with some hinting of ethnic and religious cleansing, as close to 200 officers including major generals were  retired, on  Friday, following what the authorities said was a consequence of service exigencies.

 

Several  generals were said to have reported for work with zeal  on Friday with no inkling that their fate  had been decided by the Army Council, only to be given letters which  turned out to be retirement letters.

A sizeable number of those retired are said to be those that held operational positions like Brigade Commanders, Commanding Officers and other sensitive positions during the 2015 general elections, as well as those that participated in the war against terror, now christened ‘Operation Lafiya Dole’.

Others allegedly had one or two roles to play in the procurement of army equipment and other logistics and may have been indicted by the Chief of Army Staff’s Committee that investigated arms, logistics and other procurements dating back to the tenure of former COAS, Generals Owoye Azazi, Abdurahman Dambazau, Azubuike Ihejirika and KTJ Minimah.

Some of the generals, who Sunday Vanguard gathered were in the list, include Major General MY Ibrahim, a former GOC 7 Division, Maiduguri, Major General Fatai Ali, a former Chief of Training and Operations, Army Headquarters, Major General Ilo, GOC 2  Division, Ibadan, Major General SD Aliyu, former DA China, Brig-General Lawson, Defence Adviser China, Brigadier General Mustapha Onoiveta, a  former ADC to  the late President Yar’Adua, Brigadier General Dahiru Abdusalami, Brigade Commander, Jos, Brigadier General Bello, Acting Director, Operations, and former ADC to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Col Ojogbane Adegbe.

A statement from Army headquarters, signed by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations on the retirements and  released at 12. 45am, on Friday, read, “The Nigerian Army wishes to inform the general public that quite a number of senior officers of the Nigerian Army were retired from service yesterday.

“Those retired were mainly some Major Generals, Brigadier Generals, Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels and a Major.

“Their retirement was based on Service exigencies. It should be recalled that not too long ago some officers were investigated for being partisan during the 2015 general elections. Similarly, the investigation by the Presidential Committee investigating Defence Contracts revealed a lot.

“Some officers have already been arraigned in court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). “People should therefore not read this out of context. “The military must remain apolitical and professional at all times”.

See list of some of the affected officers below:

1. Maj Gen FO Ali.

2. Maj Gen EG Atewe.

3. Maj Gen Ejemai.

4. Maj Gen MY Ibrahim.

5. Maj Gen IN Ijioma.

6. Maj Gen Koleoso.

7. Maj Gen PAT Akem.

8. Maj Gen LC Ilo.

9. Maj Gen SD Aliyu.

10. Brig Gen Onibasa.

11. Brig Gen IM Lawson.

12. Brig Gen D Abdusalam.

13. Brig Gen Bashir Mormoni.

14. Brig Gen ASH Sahaad.

15. Brig Gen Koko Essien.

16. Brig Gen MD Onoiveta.

17. Brig Gen LM Bello.

18. Brig Gen MG Ali.

19. Brig Gen Oyefesobi.

20. Brig Gen Ogidi.

21. Brig Gen Fiboinumama.

22. Brig Gen Agachi.

23. Col OU Nwankwo.

24. Col Adegbe.

25. Col DR Hassan.

26. Col TT Minima.

27. Col CK Ukoha.

28. Col FD Kayode.

29. Col Achinze.

30. Lt Col Oladuntoye.

31. Lt Col Adinmoha.

32. Lt Col CO Amadi.

33. Lt Col Baba Ochanpa.

34. Lt Col Dazang.

35. Lt Col TE Arigbe.

36. Lt Col Egemole.

37. Lt Col A Suleiman.

38. Lt Col A Mohammed.

39. Lt Col AS Mohammed.

40. Lt Col Enemchukwu.

41. Maj TA Williams.