Osun community boils as drunken policeman kills two brothers

(Punch) - A New Year tragedy threw Ikirun community of Osun State into turmoil on Saturday morning when a drunken policeman identified as O. Kelechi, opened fire on two brothers at a checkpoint along Oke-Afo Road in Ikirun.

The names of the brothers were Lukman Adesina and Taiwo Adesina.

It was gathered that the two brothers, whose father is a motorcycle dealer in Ikirun, were on an errand when they were stopped by the policeman.

An irate mob took to the streets and burnt down the Divisional Police Station in Ikirun, damaged several vehicles belonging to police officers as well as the Motor Traffic Division in the community, along with several motorcycles.

The Divisional Police Officer, Ikirun, Mr Abiodun Alabi, was attacked by the mob who stormed the police station while several policemen on duty took to their heels.

A police source said he was rushed to Osun State General Hospital, Osogbo, where he is currently on danger list.

It was gathered that many other policemen were injured in the rage by the angry residents.

The brothers were driven by another relative, who narrowly escaped being killed too in the fracas.

Some residents, who spoke with our correspondent at Oja-Oba area of Ikirun, said Kelechi stopped the motorcycle bearing the brothers and demanded a bribe from them.

But the Commissioner of Police, Osun Command, Mr Solomon Olusegun, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said there was a fatal crisis involving a policeman and a resident, adding that the situation had been brought under control.

Olusegun said only one resident and one policeman died in the fracas.

SSS smashes kidnappers camp, rescues 2

OPERATIVES of the State Security Service in Kogi state on Saturday, smashed a kidnapper’s camp in Kogi state.

The security operatives however released one Mr Reuben Sunday Babatunde, Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of Radiographers Registration Board of Nigeria who had been held captive for over 10 days.

The State Director of State Security Service, Mr Mike Fubara, who briefed newsmen in his office in lokoja yesterday, said Babatunde, who came home for the celebration of Christmas, was abducted on the 22nd December in his residence in Ottite village near Okene by some masked men.

Fubara said a ransom of N20 million was first demanded from the victim who was moved to their camp located around Marks Farms Ltd, on Abuja - Okene highway before the family of the victim pleaded to pay the sum of N3 million.

The SSS boss explained that as the deal was agreed and sealed by both parties, the mobile phone of the victim which was in possession of the kidnappers gave him away as a bank alert came through the mobile phone which signified that a sum of N3 miilion was just deposited into the account of the victim.

It was learnt that the kidnappers who discovered that not the whole money was paid, threatened to kill Babatunde unless the ransom was increased to N5 million earlier demanded.

But the security boss said that a sum of N600,000 was paid as initial deposit to the kidnappers while the wife of the victim who was gripped with fear was said to have sourced for the sum of N3 million to pay the kidnappers for the release of her husband before operatives from the State Security Service waded into the matter.

The SSS boss said immediately his command got wind of the saga his men moved into action which led to the rescue of Babatunde from a hideout in the thick forest on Abuja – Lokoja- Okene highway.

He said on sighting his men, the kidnappers immediately opened fire which led to about 50 minutes hot exchange of fire leaving two of the kidnappers dead with 12 of them arrested.

Weapons seized from the kidnappers, according to the security operatives, include new Ak 47 guns, assorted rifles and ammunitions, while some other dangerous weapons including military uniforms and knives were recovered.

2011: Borno, Yobe delegates shun Atiku for Jonathan

The meeting of the former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar with delegates from Borno and Yobe states suffered a heavy blow at the weekend in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, where the delegates reportedly openly challenged and told the former number two citizen that their loyalty to President Goodluck Jonathan was 100 per cent.

The former vice president was also told that his aspiration to occupy Aso Rock Villa in 2011 was not in the best interest of the generality of the people of the zone.

This came shortly after the Northern youths, under the aegis of Arewa Citizens Action for Change (ACAC), faulted the decision of the Adamu Ciroma-led Northern Elders Consensus Committee for not providing an alternative candidate that the North would support should Atiku Abubakar fail to get the PDP ticket.

The Northern youths had, after a joint meeting of its national working committee with the state and local government executives, in Maiduguri, said the process that led to the nomination of the former vice president cannot be called a consensus, because Atiku could not have emerged if the committee had to vote.

Speaking to Sunday Tribune in Maiduguri, one of the delegates from the state, who did not want his name in print, said they have no reason to deceive Atiku who is one of their own, because they know him, and his contributions to the North East zone while he was vice president is not hidden from the people.

According to him,“Atiku was vice president for eight years with all the powers to effect changes that would last in the North East zone but he forgot to leave his footprints for the people of this zone and you know our people are practical people. They can look you in the face and speak their minds, no matter your level in the society, as such, shunning this meeting, like some delegates did, is a feeler for Atiku, because from all indications, the people have already made up their minds on Atiku and their loyalty to President Jonathan Goodluck is unwavering.”

Nigeria police arrest 92 over northern sect attack

KANO, Nigeria — Police have arrested 92 suspected members of a radical Islamist sect in raids after a series of attacks that killed eight people in northern Maiduguri city, a police chief said Thursday.

"We have arrested 92 suspected members of the sect in raids we carried out on many parts of the city Wednesday through Thursday in connection with yesterday's attacks, including a man in his 70s we believe is the sect's major financier," Borno state police commissioner Mohammed Jinjiri Abubakar told AFP on the phone from Maiduguri.

Eight people including three policemen were killed in five separate attacks by gunmen suspected of being Boko Haram members in the city late Wednesday, military and police officials said.

Policemen raided the house of the sect's alleged bankroller where materials linking him to the sect were found.

The materials found included chemicals used in bomb making, audio tapes of the late sect leader's preaching and machetes, Abubakar said.

Abubakar said the suspects had been taken to the police headquarters in Nigeria's capital Abuja for further interrogation.

The sect launched an uprising in Nigeria's north last year that ended with a police and military assault which left hundreds dead.

"The policemen were killed in Ruwan Zafi district of Maiduguri in an attack on a police patrol team by suspected Boko Haram sect members who also burnt down the patrol van," army spokesman lieutenant Abubakar Abdullahi told AFP.

Lawal Abdullahi, the police spokesman in Borno State, of which Maiduguri is the capital, also confirmed that three policemen were killed in the attack.

"We lost three men in a shootout with suspected members of the outlawed Boko Haram," he told AFP. "The suspects launched an attack on one of our patrol vehicles and burnt it. The policemen were outnumbered by the attackers."

Five civilians were killed in four other separate targeted attacks launched by motorcycle-riding gunmen in the volatile northeastern city.

In two separate attacks in the same city, suspected Boko Haram gunmen killed a policeman and retired police officer on Tuesday while three civilians suffered gunshot wounds, the police said.

That attack came barely a day after gunmen suspected to be part of a radical Islamic sect, calling itself on a website Jama?atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda?Awati Wal Jihad, claimed responsibility for Christmas eve attacks that killed dozens of people in the central Nigerian city of Jos.

The sect claimed responsibility for multiple explosions in Jos in which at least 80 people were killed in attacks and in reprisal killings.

The police said 32 people were killed in the Jos attacks.

The group also claimed to be behind the attack on three churches in Maiduguri on the same day in which six people were killed and a church was burnt down.

Boko Haram members have been blamed for a string of attacks in the north of the west African country targeting policemen and community leaders, especially in Maiduguri.

Jos is in the so-called middle-belt region between the predominantly Muslim north and the mainly Christian south and has long been a hotspot of ethnic and religious friction.

Many attribute the unrest in Jos to the struggle for economic and political power between the Christian Beroms, seen as the indigenous ethnic group in the region, and the Hausa-Fulani Muslims, viewed as the more recent arrivals.

These attacks come ahead of elections set for April

Liverpool 2 - 1 Bolton

Joe Cole came off the bench to score a contested late winner as Liverpool fought back from a goal down to seal a much-needed win over Bolton at Anfield.

Under-fire Reds boss Roy Hodgson cut a dejected figure as Kevin Davies headed Bolton in front just before half-time.

Liverpool replied shortly after the break when Fernando Torres volleyed home from Steven Gerrard's pass.

Cole was introduced on 82 minutes and tapped in at the death from what seemed an offside position to grab the points.

The result sees Liverpool pull six points clear of the relegation zone, rising from 12th to ninth, while Bolton drop to seventh.

It was a dramatic end to a tense encounter and although Bolton may complain bitterly about Cole's strike, Liverpool are sure to toast a crucial three points.

Hodgson's men came into the match under huge pressure following Wednesday's shock defeat by Wolves.

That left the Reds perilously close to the bottom three and confirmed they would enter 2011 on their lowest points tally since the 1953/54 season, which ended in relegation.

606: DEBATE

I hereby offer my virtual handshake to Roy Hodgson! All is forgiven!

Andy1005

The home fans turned on the manager during the Wolves loss and reports on Saturday suggested the Anfield hierarchy were already considering replacements should they decide to sack the 63-year-old.

All of this surely made the game an absolute must-win for Liverpool and, having won 10 of their previous 11 home Premier League meetings with Bolton, the omens were good.

Captain Gerrard dropped to the bench after playing 90 minutes in midweek following six weeks out with a calf injury, but his side got off to an encouraging start - Torres looking particularly lively.

And the Spaniard was at the heart of a move that saw Liverpool threaten to open the scoring, his shot deflecting to the back post where Maxi Rodriguez volleyed across goal and Matt Taylor slid in to avert the danger.

As the half wore on, there was a distinct sense of nervousness around the ground and Bolton, who travelled with a squad of only 15 players, slowly began to grow in confidence.

An injury to Raul Meireles meant Gerrard was introduced on 21 minutes but it was the visitors who appeared more likely to break the deadlock, with Taylor curling a free-kick narrowly wide from 25 yards and Zat Knight heading wide from Johan Elmander's cross.

There seemed a greater urgency about Liverpool with Gerrard on the pitch and they were denied by the woodwork when a Maxi header from Dirk Kuyt's right-wing centre looped on to the crossbar.

Yet Bolton were holding out fairly comfortably and their day got a whole lot better when Kevin Davies pounced shortly before half-time for the Trotters' first goal at Anfield since 2003.

Fabio Aurelio, starting his first league match this season in place of Paul Konchesky, fouled Rodrigo Moreno on the Bolton right and Davies muscled his way ahead of Glen Johnson to power home Taylor's inviting free-kick.

It was a goal that drew anger from the terraces but Liverpool should have been level within a couple of minutes, with Leiva Lucas prodding wide from a Kuyt cross when it looked harder to miss than score.

Fortunately for the hosts, an equaliser was forthcoming just after the break.

David Ngog laid Johnson's chipped pass to Gerrard, who floated a delightful ball over the top for Torres to expertly volley past Jussi Jaaskelainen and send the Kop into raptures.

Liverpool now had the wind in their sails and Torres came close to giving his side the lead. The Spaniard was released by Gerrard and cut in from the left before fizzing a low effort narrowly wide of the far post.

Jaaskelainen then stood tall to deny Gerrard and although the rebound appeared to strike Mark Davies on the arm, referee Kevin Friend waved away Liverpool's appeals for a penalty.

Liverpool continued to probe and Torres volleyed wide from another accurate Gerrard cross, while at the other end Mark Davies shot powerfully at Pepe Reina in a rare Bolton attack.

But the pressure finally told as Gerrard's deep cross from the right was bundled towards goal by Maxi and Cole tapped in for his first league goal since joining Liverpool from Chelsea last summer.

Bolton's protests came to nothing and despite pushing for an even later equaliser - Reina saving well from substitute Ivan Klasnic - their efforts came to nothing.

Nigeria: Questions surround latest bomb attack

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Muslim extremists may have planted the bomb that exploded at an army barracks in Nigeria's capital, the country's president said Saturday after the latest attack in a nation beset by violence in recent weeks.

No one has claimed responsibility for Friday's explosion, which killed at least four people and wounded 21 as they celebrated New Year's Eve in the barrack's open-air beer garden and market. President Goodluck Jonathan promised people attending a church service in Abuja that those responsible would be found.

However, his vague remarks appeared to indicate that security agencies remain ill-prepared to halt such violence as the nation nears what could be a tumultuous April election.

"Some people say they are politicians, some say they are religious fanatics, but to me they are pure criminals, they are (the) ones demons are using these days, not only in Nigeria," Jonathan said. "For those of you who have time to listen to world news on Al-Jazeera or CNN, you will see that terrorism is crisscrossing the whole world."

On Saturday, U.S. President Barack Obama condemned the attack, offered his condolences to the victims and their families, and offered to help Jonathan's government bring the perpetrators to justice.

"Killing innocent civilians who were simply gathering — like so many people around the world — to celebrate the beginning of a New Year further demonstrates the bankrupt vision of those who carry out these attacks," Obama said in a statement.

The blast struck the barracks, called the Mogadishu Cantonment, around 7:30 p.m. Friday in an area of market stalls and beer parlors referred to locally as a "mammy market." There, civilians, soldiers and the occasional foreigner regularly gather for drinks and its famous barbecued fish.

Local police spokesman Jimoh Moshood said the number of injuries in the attack rose to 21, while four people had died. The state-run Nigerian Television Authority reported Friday night that 30 people had died after the blast.

Moshood acknowledged the blast seemed to target both civilians and soldiers, but he declined to say where the explosive was placed.

"It is too early to draw any conclusion now," he said Saturday.

The blast came days after a similar attack struck a nation that remains uneasily divided between Christians and Muslims. On Christmas Eve, three bombs exploded in the central Nigerian city of Jos, killing dozens of people. That area has seen more than 500 people die in religious and ethnic violence this year alone.

Members of a radical Muslim sect, known locally as Boko Haram, claimed responsibility for the bombings and attacks on two churches in the northern city of Maiduguri the same night, killing at least six people.

In Abuja, Nigeria's capital, a dual car bombing killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens during an Oct. 1 independence celebration. The main militant group in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, claimed responsibility for that attack.

In his remarks during the church service, Jonathan said the Oct. 1 bombs bore similarities to explosives used in parts of the Niger Delta. He said Friday's bomb appeared to be "identical with the ones that happened in Jos."

"So as long as the security operatives know the two routes, we will get to where these things are coming from," he said.

Nigeria is a vital supplier of easily refined crude oil to the U.S., and unrest in the West African nation has affected oil prices in the past.

Western diplomats worry that ethnic, religious and political violence could hobble the nation of 150 million people just as it adjusts to democracy after years of military dictatorships and coups.

___

Gambrell reported from Lagos, Nigeria.

I strongly condemn the separate and outrageous terrorist bombing attacks in Egypt and Nigeria. The attack on a church in Alexandria, Egypt caused 21 reported deaths and dozens of injured from both the Christian and Muslim communities. The perpetrators of this attack were clearly targeting Christian worshippers, and have no respect for human life and dignity. They must be brought to justice for this barbaric and heinous act. We are continuing to gather information regarding this terrible event, and are prepared to offer any necessary assistance to the Government of Egypt in responding to it.

The attack near an army barracks in Abuja also reportedly killed more than 20 people and wounded many more. Killing innocent civilians who were simply gathering like so many people around the world to celebrate the beginning of a New Year further demonstrates the bankrupt vision of those who carry out these attacks, and we are similarly prepared to offer assistance to the Government of Nigeria as it works to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The United States extends its deepest condolences to the families of those killed and to the wounded in both of these attacks, and we stand with the Nigerian and Egyptian people at this difficult time.