German Spies Say Saudis Shifting to More 'Impulsive' Interventionist Action

Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency warned that Saudi Arabia is becoming "impulsive" in its foreign policy.

In a memo published Wednesday, the agency said Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is second in line to the throne, and his father, King Salman, are trying to establish themselves as leaders of the Arab world, the Associated Press reported.

"The thus far cautious diplomatic stance of the elder leaders in the royal family is being replaced by an impulsive interventionist policy," the BND said.

Man Tortured Apprentice To Death Over Allegations Of Poor Sales (pictured)

Family petitions CP over son’s alleged murder


Family members and relatives of Master Tochukwu Nwagbala have called on police to investigate the circumstances surrounding the alleged murder of their son. The late Nwagbala, an apprentice in Benin, Edo State, was allegedly murdered by his master under whom he had served for several years.

The distraught family has petitioned the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Chris Ezike, alleging conspiracy among top officers of the state police command over Nwagbala’s death. The family asked Ezike to order investigation to unravel how the body of Ezike was dumped at the Benin by-pass.

President Buhari, Xi Jinping To Discuss Railway, Power Projects

President Muhammadu Buhari will be in South Africa , Thursday to take part in the Forum on China/Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) occurring in Johannesburg, December 4-5, 2015. At this forum President Buhari will follow up his meeting with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping which took place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in November in New York.

President Buhari had shown to Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader at the bilateral meeting in New York that he needed China to re-initiate slowed down rail ventures under new terms that would see China giving almost all the financing required.

Exceptionally compelling is the coastal railroad task extending for 1402 kilometers connecting Lagos in the West with Calabar in the East; a venture that is relied upon to be financed with 12 billion U.S Dollars Chinese loan and which will create around 200,000 jobs.

Another rail project that will be up for renegotiation is the $8.3bn Lagos-Kano standard gage modernization undertaking, of which is only a segment, Kaduna-Abuja has come to completion stage.

President Buhari is additionally expected to examine methods for uprooting all deterrents in the way for the 3,050 MW Mambila Power Station, considered a key undertaking which was conceived in 1982 yet has not taken off.

The Chinese President had informed President Buhari of the eagerness of his nation to back the entire project through an extraordinary loan agreement.

The President, who will be joined by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema; Minister of Transportation, Chubuike Amaechi; and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, will return to Abuja on Saturday, December 5.

#China, #Nigeria

No Enemy Needed: US Jammed Its Own Satellites 261 Times This Year Alone

A high-ranking US general confessed that the most dangerous adversary of the United States in the realm of electronic warfare these days just may be… the United States itself.

He also indicated he has no clue how many times American satellites were jammed by China or Russia.

“I really don’t know. My guess is zero,” General John Hyten, head of Air Force Space Command, at the Association of Old Crows electronic warfare conference, according to Breaking Defense.

These Are the Weapons the UK May Use to Bomb Syria

As British Prime Minister David Cameron pushes Parliament to approve Syrian airstrikes, here’s a look at the weapons that could be used if lawmakers vote to extend the bombing campaign beyond Iraq.

The United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force currently uses two bases for manned bombing flights over Iraq and surveillance flights over Syria. One of these is Al Udeid air base in Qatar, while the other is RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. The British military also launches drones out of Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, though these are controlled remotely from the UK and the United States.

Depots Sell Petrol To Marketers Above Official Price

Nigerians may face a bleak Yuletide as indications have emerged that the current scarcity of petrol across the country may spill into the New Year unless an urgent solution is found to the lingering problem.
Our correspondent gathered on Tuesday that petroleum product depots were selling Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise called petrol, to marketers above the ex-depot price of N77.66 per litre.
This is despite a recent warning by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation that marketers whose retail outlets sell above the regulated pump price of N87 per litre would be sanctioned accordingly with their products given to consumers for free.

One of the marketers said, “Product loaded at the regulated N77.66 is later being traded at up to N110 to third parties who later sell at N120 in some filling stations in the South and N114 in the North.”
Findings by our correspondent showed that even the marketers who were getting PMS supply from the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company at the official ex-depot price were selling the product at exorbitant prices to truck owners and filling stations, who then sell above N100 per litre to consumers.
The situation prompted a visit by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, to tank farms in Apapa, Lagos on Tuesday.

Add Tinubu’s Politics Into Curriculum, Ashafa Urges UK Varsity

The senator representing Lagos-East senatorial district, Gbenga Ashafa, has urged the University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom to dedicate an academic course to the study of the politics style of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Ashafa said this after the investiture of Tinubu as patron of the university’s Centre for African Entrepreneurship and Leadership on Monday.

Kano Blast: Boko Haram Not Responsible –Zakzaky

Leader of Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky has said last week’s bomb explosion in Kano which killed 24 persons during Arba’een symbolic trek, was not carried out by Boko Haram even when it claimed responsibility for the attack.
Spokesperson for the group, Ibrahim Usman in a statement, quoted Zakzaky as saying, “we know the names of the contractors and those contracted to commit the massacre; their identity is not hidden from us.

Nigeria Blew N2.7trn On Electricity – Dogara

• How NERC raised salaries unilaterally, Reps panel told
Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, yesterday revealed that it is a shame that N2.7 trillion was wasted to generate power which remained epileptic since 1999.
He spoke in Abuja when he opened the House Committee on Power investigating the payment of N2.7 billion severance package to the Chairman and seven commissioners of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

Dasuki Arrest Is The Peak Of Buhari’s Dictatorship – Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has described the arrest Tuesday, of the immediate past National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, by the Department of State Services (DSS), as continuation of President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime of vengeance, saying “disobeying court order and later arresting and detaining the same person the court ordered to be allowed to travel abroad for medicare is the peak of dictatorship”.

Governor Fayose, who reiterated his support for the fight against corruption, maintained that it must be done within the ambit of the law and must not be used to seek vengeance.
He declared support for Mr. Dasuki’s demand for an open trial as against the federal government’s demand for a secret trial.

“We Saw Hell On Asaba-Onitsha Road” – Motorists, Passengers Lament Biafra Protest In Anambra

Travellers were held to a stand still for hours on Tuesday along Asaba road as the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, shutdown activities in Onistha, Africa’s largest commercial hub.
The protest was organised to warn the Federal Government of Nigeria on the need to free their detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu without delay.
The protesters also affirmed that they needed their independence as a nation.
DAILY POST gathered that the eastern gateway, River Niger was blocked for several hours as nobody was allowed to enter or go out of the state.

Arrest Of Dokpesi, Political Persecution By Buhari – PDP

The National leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has condemned the arrest of Chairman of Daar Communication, Raymond Dokpesi, describing it as political persecution.
PDP in a statement signed Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, noted that the All Progressives Congress, APC-led government was after Dokpesi because of his romance and relationship with the PDP.

Metuh said, “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemns in its entirety, the arrest of media mogul, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi and other opposition elements by the APC-led Federal Government.”

“This Is Not Democracy” – Wada Reacts To INEC Acceptance Of New APC Candidate, Bello Governor Idris Wada of Kogi

 State has described the decisions of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the governorship election conducted on November 21 as the height of mischief that has only succeeded in putting the country’s democracy on trial.

In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Chief Communications Manager, Mr. Phrank Shaibu, the governor said INEC should not have swallowed the directive of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) hook, line and sinker, especially “since it is now being rumored that the AGF’s action is part of a grand plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to grab Kogi State at all costs.”
Shaibu slammed the decision of INEC to allow APC to substitute its candidate in the middle of an election, saying such directives were null and void for inconsistency with the provisions of the constitution.

How Dasuki Aided Importation Of Illegal Arms Into Nigeria – NATFORCE

The National Task Force on Illegal Importation of Firearms, NATFORCE, on Tuesday threw more light into its claims that the ex-National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), among others, allegedly aided the importation of several trailers of illegal arms and ammunitions into the country.
The NATFORCE alleged that the arms were delivered to the Islamic terrorists, Boko Haram, a group that has gruesomely murdered tens of thousands of innocent Nigerians.

US Lists Two Boko Haram Leaders For Sanction

The US Department of Treasury on Tuesday named two leaders of the Boko Haram sect for economic sanctions, saying both are closely involved in deadly attacks in Nigeria, AFP reported.
The Treasury Department said Mohammed Nur, a Boko Haram commander who has represented the group in negotiations with the federal government, was placed on its financial blacklist for his involvement in suicide bomb attacks, including one on the United Nations headquarters in Abuja in 2011.

Shell Agrees To Pay N3 Billion Over Its Involvement In The Killing Of Ken Saro-Wiwa, Others

In what is clearly a landmark settlement, multinational oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell, on Tuesday agreed to pay a settlement of $15.5 Million (N3 billion) over the killing of novelist and environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and eight other Ogoni leaders.
Mr. Saro-Wiwa was sentenced to death by hanging by a military tribunal set up by late dictator, Sani Abacha, in 2005.

N2.1bn Arms Money Scandal: What I Know About EFCC Probe Of Dokpesi — Lawyer

Mike Ozekhome, the lawyer to Raymond Dokpesi, founder of Daar Communications, Raymond Dokpesi, has said he was not aware his client received money from the office of the former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki.
Mr. Ozekhome also said reports that Mr. Dokpesi was arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ,EFCC, over the alleged payment, were not correct because Mr. Dokpesi went on his own to the anti-graft agency after receiving a call from its chairman.
“I am not aware the chief collected any money,” he said, referring to Mr. Dokpesi.
A source at the EFCC had told PREMIUM TIMES that Mr. Dokpesi was interrogated by investigators because he received N2.1 billion from the NSA’s office on the eve of the 2015 general election.

Buhari Administration’s Anti-Corruption War Political — Shehu Sani

The Senator representing Kaduna Central in the Nigerian Senate, Shehu Sani, on Tuesday challenged the Code of Conduct Bureau to look into asset declarations of other Governors who served at the same time as the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, saying politics should not be mixed with anti-graft war.

Mr. Sani spoke at the 8th Forum of the laureates of Nigerian National Order of Merit in Abuja where he criticized Nigeria’s anti-corruption campaign as being driven by political considerations.
According to him, after insurgency, no issue should dominate national discourse more than corruption. He said political considerations could hamper the anti-graft war.
Mr. Sani said corruption had consequences, referring to the ongoing investigation into arms deal supervised by the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.

FACT CHECK: Police IG Arase’s Claim 90,000 Officers Killed In Boko Haram Insurgency False

Nigeria’s House of Representatives resolved last Wednesday to investigate claims earlier in the month by Nigeria’s inspector-general of police, Solomon Arase, that 90,000 police officers have been “lost” to the Boko Haram insurgency since 2011.
“Based on the figure I have in my disposal, we have 90,000 widows. So invariably, that can be translated to mean that we have lost about 90,000 officers and men since the commencement of the insurgency four years ago,” the inspector-general reportedly told police officers in Sokoto on 11 November.

Fayose On Dasuki: Why Should DSS Probe Fraud?.

Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, has faulted the arrest of Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser, by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Accusing the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari of seeking “vengeance”, Fayose wondered why the DSS is the one investigating Dasuki.
“Is it the duty of the DSS to investigate fraud? If Dasuki committed fraud as being alleged, why not let the appropriate government agency handle his matter? Why first torturing him emotionally with the DSS siege on his house?” he asked in a statement issued ion his behalf by Lere Olayinka, his special assistant on public communications and new media.

Paul Biya Resigns Paul Biya

At 11:30 Am this morning delegates of the C.P.D.M met at the Unity palace for a meeting called upon by Paul Biya. He declared his resignation as president of Cameroon few hours ago as a motive of health and a change to bring democracy.

This is very surprising as many don’t understand why the president who has made 30 years in power decided to quit without any plan of a next leader. Now the question is. What will become of Cameroon now and who is going to be our next leader?

Police To ‘Biafrans': Stop Testing Our Patience.

Solomon Arase, inspector-general of police (IGP), says Biafra campaigners are testing the patience of the police, threatening to clampdown on protesters.
Arase warned the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) activists to “stop threatening public peace or face the full weight of the law”.


According to Olabisi Kolawole, police spokeswoman, the warning followed “the observation by the Nigeria police force leadership of the increasing resort to acts of brigandage by sets of misguided individuals who apparently are hiding under the cloak of MASSOB and IPOB to threaten national security and public peace in parts of southeast geopolitical zone and some other conterminous states”.

Okonjo-Iweala Must Be Prosecuted – Oshiomhole

Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole has urged the federal government to also prosecute former President Goodluck Jonathan and immediate past finance minister, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for approving spending of funds from the excess crude account without appropriation by the National Assembly.

Dokpesi Must Not Face Secret Trial, Says PDP.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the arrest of Raymond Dokpesi, founder of Africa Independent Television (AIT), by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as political persecution.
The party condemned the arrest, saying it “had been made aware that more of its leaders had similarly been listed for arrest over unproven allegations pursuant to the plot by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to cow and silence opposition in the country”.

U.S. Advises Rwandan President To Step Down After Tenure Expiration In 2017

U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power, says Washington expects Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, to set an example for the region and step down at the end of his second term in office in 2017.
She told reporters on Wednesday that “President Kagame has an opportunity to set an example for a region in which leaders seem too tempted to view themselves as indispensable to their own countries’ trajectories.
“We really do expect President Kagame to follow through on the commitments that he has made many times in the past to allow the next generation of leaders to come forward.
“We expect Kagame to step down at the end of his term in 2017.’’