5 NECO candidates, 13 others killed in fresh Boko Haram attacks, JTF, youths rescue French national from kidnappers, UTME: Institutions review admission slots to 704,000

5 NECO candidates, 13 others killed in fresh Boko Haram attacks

MAIDUGURI— Barely 24 hours after gunmen, suspected to be Boko Haram members, Sunday night, killed seven students and two teachers of Government Secondary School, Damaturu, the Yobe State capital, five students and 13 civilians were, Monday, killed in separate attacks by suspected Boko Haram sect in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Our correspondent gathered that five of the students killed were writing the ongoing National Examination Council, NECO, examinations when the gunmen stormed Ansarudin, a private primary/secondary school in Jajeri ward of the metropolis and opened fire in the hall, few minutes after the examination started.

2012 Bauchi State flood victims waiting at bank in Bauchi for money on Tuesday

An eye witness who pleaded anonymity for security reasons told Vanguard that one of the victims was impersonating a candidate as he was writing the exams for somebody else, before he met his untimely death at about 3pm when the gunmen struck.

13 others  killed in Maiduguri

In a related development, about 13 people, including fishermen and tea vendors, were killed around the Alau Dam situated on the outskirts of Maiduguri by suspected sect members.
Vanguard  reliably gathered that the gunmen ambushed the people around the dam and before opening fire, they told their victims: “You are those exposing our activities to security agencies. Today your days are over, as we will kill all of you.”
It would be recalled that a week ago, some youths on a volunteer mission arrested several members of the sect in Hausari, Gwange, among other areas of Maiduguri and handed them over to the JTF before they were killed.
Alau Dam is one of the biggest dams and a treatment plant that supplies water to people of Maiduguri and its environs. It also supplies vast agricultural land for irrigation for farming around the riverine areas.
Those killed included some youths of Gwange ward of the metropolis who went to Alau Dam to buy fish for their domestic consumption.
A resident of Gwange and a nieghbour to one of the victims, Mallam Mohammed Musa, said: “Yes, one of my neighbours was among the 13 people killed by suspected Boko Haram in Alau Dam on Monday. It was yesterday after Magrip prayers that the news of the killings filtered into the community. I just came to report in the office before going back home to attend the burial.”

Residents express fears

Meanwhile, some residents of Maiduguri have expressed fears over the fresh killings, and called on the security agencies to allow GSM operators resume their services after a month of total blackout.
Mallam Ibrahim Modu and Mamman Elbadawi said since the declaration of the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States, the JTF ordered the closure of all telecommunication services and the blockage of some major federal roads to tame the Boko Haram.
He added, however, that the killings of innocent people have continued unabated in the state, citing the recent Yobe and Borno killings.
A top security official who do not want his name mentioned as he was not authorized to speak, in an interview confirmed the separate attacks and killings in Borno State.
He said apart from the killing of the NECO candidates and the 13 people in Alau Dam, another female NECO official/supervisor was lynched by the suspected Boko Haram sect while on her way to administer questioneers to candidates in one of the schools in the metropolis.

Youths nab suspected  sect member

Meantime, youths in Bulumkutu area of the metropolis have captured one of the suspected Boko Haram sect member, yesterday, in their community and handed him over to the JTF.
However, irked by the arrest of dozens of their members in Borno and Yobe States in the last two weeks, members of the sect, yesterday, declared hostilities against youths in Borno and Yobe States.
The group, which said it was waging a war against the Nigerian State to establish a Sharia legal system said in addition to killing the police, soldiers, other security operatives, politicians and other symbols of authority, the group has added youths to the list of their targets for assassination.

Boko Haram declares war on youths

Our correspondent reports that angered by the lingering crises that crippled social and economic life in Borno and Yobe States as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency, hundreds of youths have organised themselves into vigilance groups, captured scores of insurgents and handed them over to security operatives.
Abu Zinnira, the acclaimed spokesman of the Boko Haram said in a statement to newsmen in Maiduguri that they will also launch manhunt of their hunters (youths) who go by the name ‘Civilian JTF.’
According to him, “we have established that youths in Borno and Yobe States are now against our course. They have connived with security operatives and are actively supporting the government of Nigeria in its war against us. We have also resolved to fight back.“

Youths promise to  fight back

However, some of the youths who promised to fight the Boko Haram insurgents in Maiduguri said they would not be deterred in carrying out their mission and there would be no going back.
One of the leaders of the youth groups said: “What the Boko Haram said is an empty threat because the time of war of terror, war of attrition and killing of innocent people with impunity is over. We, the youths have resolved to take our destiny in our hands and will continue hunting the insurgents.”

JTF, youths rescue French national from kidnappers

 A missing 28-year-old French national, Benjamin Élan, working on board a chemical vessel, was yesterday, rescued from the kidnappers’ den by operatives of the Joint Task Force code named Operation Pulo Shield in collaboration with youths of Amatu community of Bayelsa State in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
Élan, the chief officer of the ship was among the missing 15 crew of the chemical tanker, Adour, was attacked by suspected pirates June 13, 2013,  some 30 nautical miles off Lome, Togo.

Rescued French national, Benjamin Élan (2nd left) at the JTF headquarters, Opolo, Yenagoa.

The chemical tanker was said to have discharged the cargo of STS into the port and left when suspected pirates struck, took control of the ship and changed its course to Nigeria.
Vanguard reliably learnt that the chemical tanker is registered in Marseille, France and is owned and operated by the French company Sea Tankers Shipping.
The Commander of the JTF, Major General Bata Debiro, while presenting the rescued Chief Officer of the ship, Benjamin Élan, to newsmen and officials of the Bayelsa State government led by the state Commissioner for Information, Mr. Markson Fefegha, in Yenagoa, said he was rescued at Amatu 1 in Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state.
Reliving his experience, Élan said his abductors were not violent but that he was kept in hiding for six days and was fed with bread and water.
He said as a worker aboard MT Adour he was taken as a shield by the pirates after a team of operatives of the Nigerian Navy and French Marines stormed the hijacked ship.
He said: “The Navy officers negotiated the release of other crew members  but due to fear and poor visibility, the pirates held unto me to ensure that they escaped.”
In his remarks, the Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information, Fefegha, lauded efforts of officers of the Joint Task force for their proactive moves to stamp out criminality and theft along the waterways and creeks of Bayelsa State.

FG to launch Fibre-optic Network connecting 27 universities

Abuja – The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson, said that the Federal Government would launch its Fibre-optic Research and Education Network, connecting 27 universities to the Internet by July.
Johnson announced the plan in Abuja on Tuesday at the ongoing Ministerial Platform when she presented the ministry’s achievements in the two years of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
She said the project currently being tested was part of the ministry’s initiative to make Nigerian students a priority in the development of  the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector.
She said that the project was in collaboration with Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission, Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) and World Bank STEP-B in the deployment of the education network to institutions.
“Next month we will launch that Fibre-optic Research and Education Network that is connecting 27 Federal universities to each other by the Internet.
“ The USPF supporting this project is expected to also connect 12 medical colleges, 28 off campus sites and nine federal universities by September 2013,” she said.
She said that more state universities, polytechnics and colleges of education  were expected to be connected to the network by 2014 and 2015.
Johnson said the ministry had initiated another programme, called “Tertiary Institutions Access Project (TIAP)” under which desktop computers, printers, and wireless network facilities, among others, would be provided for tertiary institutions.
She said, “the ministry through its TIAP project had established  connectivity in 17 universities and their teaching hospitals using fibre optics technology.
“Since the implementation of the programme, about 204 institutions have  connected to it, with 74 institutions in 2012.
“We also have another programme, `School Access Project (SAP), providing classmate PCs, with e-learning content and accessories, solar power solutions, high speed Internet connectivity and wireless network deployment to government public schools
“This has been implemented in 605 schools between 2010 and 2012 with additional 218 schools in 2013
“All federal and state universities have now signed up for our Student Computer Ownership Scheme  that allows students to purchase laptops using a low interest facility with monthly repayment plan of between N3,500 and N5,800,’’ she said.
Johnson, who decried low rate of adoption of ICTs by Nigerians, added that 0.9 per cent of households owned a PC, 3.6 per cent had access to one and 3.1 per cent accessed the Internet.
“An unacceptably high number of Nigerians are excluded from infrastructure that can meet their basic needs,’’ the minister said.
She said that increasing the spread of ICTs, particularly through mobile phones,  could be a means through which this could be corrected.
She noted that the ministry was extending communications infrastructure to un-served and under-served areas through the Accelerated Mobile Phone Expansion (AMPE-BTS) programme that was helping to deploy Base Stations in rural areas.
“A total of 54 base stations has been installed while additional 28 are planned for 2013.
“We also have Rural Broadband Initiative (RUBI) that provides wholesale Internet bandwidth to ISPs, Cyber cafes, and ICT centres like Community Communication Centres (CCC) in rural communities.
“Of the 18 pilot sites selected, 12 are 95 per cent completed and transmission testing is currently ongoing in Akure and Osogbo,’’ she added.
Johnson said that the ministry was working to ensure that Nigerians had access to Internet at affordable prices, irrespective of their economic background.
She noted that with the intervention of the ministry, the number of base stations in Nigeria had increased exponentially since the inception of GSM service from 116 in 2001 to about 21,000 by 2010.
“The pace of growth has, however, slowed even as some existing base stations have been decommissioned as a result of terror attacks, theft and vandals.
“About 150 base stations were lost in 2012 due to bombings and flooding; twice as many dependent base stations were also affected,’’ she said.
Johnson said the numbers of base stations in the country was expected to rise from the current 27,000 to 65,000 in 2018 to meet the national target of a five-fold increase in broadband penetration by 2018. (NAN)

UTME: Institutions review admission slots to 704,000

ABUJA—Tertiary institutions across the country, yesterday, declared that they could only admit 704,000 students out of more than 740,000 candidates who are qualified to be given admission for the 2013/2014 academic year having scored 200 and above.
Out of the 1,735,720 candidates that registered for this year’s Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, 1,540,179 candidates had their results released as 738,375 candidates have already crossed the 200 marks bar, even as the results of the 36,000 candidates that wrote computer-based tests have not been made public.
This came as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, and National Universities Commission, NUC, vowed to vet post-matriculation admissions.
The institutions also debated the cut-off mark for this year’s admission after a rowdy argument at the 4th Combined Policy Committee meeting held at NUC headquarters in Abuja.
Cut-off marks reviewed
They arrived at 180 for degree-awarding institutions, while the cut-off mark for non-degree awarding institutions was pegged at 150 from 160 to encourage candidates to opt for polytechnics and colleges of education.
JAMB Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, made the disclosures, yesterday, at the NUC headquarters, stressing that the admission capacity of tertiary institutions in the country had been raised to 704,000, from the initial 500,000.
Ojerinde said the board and NUC had to deal with the problem of admission of excess students for which the Federal Government was often pushed into a tight corner.
Admission deadline
He warned the institutions to stick to the deadline of October 31 for admission of students and cautioned that any student admitted outside the deadline would not graduate from the institutions.
He said: “I wish to remind you formally that all admissions will come to an end by October 31. All institutions are hereby called upon to adhere strictly to this date as late submissions will not be entertained.
“We have discovered that some universities and other institutions comply with admission deadline, while some others do not comply and up till date they are still admitting students.”
He said that the scores of 180 and 160 were adopted last year as cut-off point, but was thrown open for institutions to agree on before adoption in the 2013/2014 year.
However, the debate on the cut-off for this year generated heated argument, but the institutions unanimously agreed to peg the cut-off mark at 180 for universities and 150 for non-degree awarding institutions.
Reasons for
marks review
The institutions based their argument on the graph shown to them by JAMB, indicating that candidates preferred universities to polytechnics and colleges of education.
They argued that to encourage candidates to seek admissions in polytechnics and colleges of education, there was need to bring down the cut-off mark to 150 for non-degree awarding institutions.
Ojerinde reminded the institutions of the mandatory guidelines on admission, pegging criteria for merit at 45 percent, catchment, 35 and educationally less-developed states, ELDS, 20 for Federal Government-owned institutions.
For state-owned institutions, merit was put at 40 percent, catchment 40 and ELDS 20.

Room To Meddle

SHOCKS over the United States Government’s order that Nigeria has to improve ports security or face sanctions – stoppage of vessels sailing to Nigerian ports – are indicative that Nigerians do not fully appreciate the implications of being members of the global village. It may be a village, but it has standards.
The US wants ports standards that would guarantee safety of its investments (worth more than $40 billion in 2012) in transporting goods in and out of Nigeria. There are many allied businesses involved: insurance, safety of the goods in transit, the certainties of industries and other services that depend on them running smoothly all through the year, and guarantees of safety of these investments.
Would the US have bothered if the standards were in order? Did we need the US to tell us the security challenges in the Gulf of Guinea were affecting Nigerian waters? Who created the room for the US to meddle in our affairs? We did.
Nigerian officials, for decades, did things with their standards. They signed international conventions they had no plans to implement. After the sessions they return to the “normalcy” they prefer at home.
The chaos at our ports was replicated at our airports until the same US insisted on standards that had to be met if planes would fly from Nigeria into its territory. It is a shame as some people have noted that the authorities had to wait until America barked orders for them to know that our ports deserved better standards.
Nigerian business people have mourned for years over the high costs of goods passing through our ports.
The major causes the number of agencies that clear goods at the ports, all charging different fees for doing the same thing, or mostly nothing and higher costs of shipping and insurance to Nigeria. The authorities ignored them. They were unimportant, as if governments were uninterested in the businesses these Nigerians did.
It took the warning of middle level diplomats at the US Embassy and government in half the time wants to secure the ports. It feared the US would mobilise its partners to boycott Nigerian ports.
Must Nigerian governments wait for promptings to act? In improving the ports, government should realise Nigerians expect high standards in all its services to them. With the official clamouring over Nigeria being West and Central Africa’s shipping hub, nothing practical was being done to achieve the ambition.
We must set higher standards for ourselves and in our engagements with others. There must be an aspiration for Nigerian standards to be high, such that others strive to attain them. Promotion of excuses and mediocrity would never create standards that would inspire others.

N70,000 mysteriously turns to pieces of paper

ABUJA —  Pension money withdrawn from a second generation bank by a 24-year-old woman for the upkeep of his ailing father mysteriously turned to pieces of newspapers after she alighted from a commercial taxi in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

The woman who pleaded anonymity told Vanguard that she had gone to the bank  located at Murtala Muhammed Highway, Calabar Road, to withdraw N70,000.00 but later discovered to her surprise that the money which she wrapped in a black cellophane bag before boarding a taxi had turned to pieces of paper.
The bewildered lady while narrating the incident to policemen on duty and concerned commuters amidst tears, said after making the withdrawal she boarded the taxi to Watt Market to buy some items.
According to her, after the withdrawal she stopped a commercial taxi with four passengers behind and one in front and she was asked by the driver to squeeze herself in the front seat.
As she was about to enter the front seat, a male in front came down for her to go in. Not suspecting anything, she entered and sat close to the driver, while the male passenger entered and sat by the door.
She said: “When I got in, the other man followed and was telling me to adjust. The driver, in pretext of helping me to sit well kept pulling my left hand that held the black polythene bag containing the money.
“In a short while, the driver said there was no space for me, that I should alight. Moments after I alighted, after the car had zoomed off, I experienced coldness when i realised that the polythene bag was now lighter”
The woman further said to clear her doubt, she reached for the bag only to discover that her father’s pension money had turned to pieces of paper.
She said she immediately stopped another taxi to go after the earlier one and when she could not catch up with it, she stopped and reported the matter to policemen.
She told Vanguard that she was afraid of telling her ailing  father what happened, saying the father might drop dead.
To salvage the situation, she said she decided to borrow the money from her friend with the hope of paying back latter.

 

Nigeria has over 1,499 illegal entry routes – Interior Minister

ABUJA – INTERIOR Minister, Abba Moro, yesterday, disclosed that there were over 1,499 irregular/illegal and 84 regular/legal officially identified entry routes into the country.
Moro said Nigeria has witnessed several instances where foreigners crossed the borders and perpetrated various types of crime, including terrorism.
He said as a result, 10,401 Nigeriens, Beninois and Camerounian, amongst others, were refused entry, while 8,337 Nigeriens were repatriated.
Moro, who made these disclosure at the Ministerial Platform of the Ministry of Interior in Abuja, said that Nigeria Immigration Service would soon commence construction of border control plazas to strengthen effective surveillance around the nation’s borders
He said the decision had become necessary to help the service in monitoring movement around the borders as Nigeria could not successfully monitor and survey its vast borders without the cooperation of neighbouring countries.
He added that electronic passenger registration facilities were also being provided at land borders, adding that mobile border patrol units are being strengthened for effective surveillance.
He said the NIS was collaborating with state governments and other security agencies to ease out, on a regular basis, foreigners without valid travel documents.
He further disclosed that the bill to amend the Prison Act had passed through the second reading at the National Assembly, explaining that “this will ease the challenges of congestion in Nigeria Prisons”.

NFF joins issue with Gaiya

The Nigeria Football Federation has debunked comments by Chairman of the House of Reps’ Committee on Sports, Hon. Godfrey Ali Gaiya on the bonus issue of the Senior National Team, Super Eagles.
Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday, Chairman of the NFF Media and Publicity Committee, Chief Emeka Inyama said Gaiya’s attacks on the Football House were unwarranted, and should not have come from someone like him who is highly informed about the operations and constraints of the football-governing body.
“The NFF can only operate with the funds made available to it. We are taken aback by the attacks because Hon. Gaiya knows everything that’s going on, including the reasons why we have to slash bonus and downsize technical/backroom staff,” began Inyama.
Giving an insight into efforts made by the NFF to carry the players and officials along in the bonus slash, Inyama said he was aware of meetings convened by NFF President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari with Coach Stephen Keshi and other members of the team’s Management in Abuja, and with Keshi and some of the senior players in Nairobi and Windhoek.
“The NFF President was very transparent in explaining to the Coach and the players why the bonus had to be slashed.
The NFF was allocated the sum of N1.8 billion for this year, out of which N1.5 billion is for sporting activities, and we have been told that the sum of N790 million given to us to prosecute the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa would be deducted from that sum.
“In the event, we are left with the sum of N710 million for our sporting activities for the whole of this year, how are we to service our different National Teams (Super Eagles, U-23 Men, U-20 Men, U-17 Boys, Super Falcons, U-20 girls, U-17 girls, Beach Soccer, Home-based Eagles, U-13 boys) from this amount, for the rest of the year?”