Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi survived a NATO missile strike Saturday that killed his youngest son and three grandchildren and wounded friends and relatives, Libya’s spokesman said.

Gadhafi and his wife were in the Tripoli house of his 29-year-old son, Saif al-Arab Gadhafi, when it was hit by at least one missile fired by a NATO warplane, according to Libyan spokesman Moussa Ibrahim.

“The leader himself is in good health,” Ibrahim said. “He was not harmed. The wife is also in good health.”
The one-storey house in a Tripoli residential neighbourhood was heavily damaged.

Saif al-Arab Gadhafi was the sixth son of Gadhafi. He had spent much of his time in Germany in recent years.
Another is Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, who had previously touted reform but has emerged as one of his father's most visible defenders in recent months.

The house in Tripoli was destroyed by the strike, with a massive crater where the house used to be. At least one unexploded bomb could be seen at the scene.

The building was in a residential area of Tripoli, according to Ibrahim, who insisted that Saif al-Arab Gadhafi was a student in Germany who was not deeply involved in Libya's military and government.

Ibrahim railed against NATO after the fatal strike, calling it an illegal act and a "war crime."
This is not the first time that Gadhafi has been at the site of an airstrike that killed one of his children.
In April 1986, U.S. forces launched an airstrike that targeted Gadhafi's residential compound. As a result, the Libyan leader's adopted daughter, Hanna Gadhafi, was killed.

At the time, President Ronald Reagan told the American people the bombings were an act of self-defence following the bombing of a West Berlin club that killed two American servicemen and injured several others.

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/gadhafi-escapes-missile-strike-son-killed/90586/

I have read through and all have spoken well having said what they have in their minds.

But marriage/wedding is not a new thing only the approach to it.

The originator of marriage is God when he gave Eve to Adam then down the history it says a man to leave the mother and father and cleave to his wife,

Sacrifice and or understanding is the key thing to the venue/place to be chosen but come to think of it in the real sense of the word, who is marrying who?

In Christianity, from where we get the origin of church wedding , I think it should take place in the groom's church, that should be the ideal thing but in its absence any other arrangement can follow.

Someday Christ will take us his bride to be where he is, our wedding with him cannot be here on earth but in the third heavens, so I rest my case, he is the bridegroom and we are his bride? we are to follow him and not HE following us.

Perhaps Buhari's body language may have spoken more than his verbal pronouncement

more names on the way

some can speak with both sides of their mouth

BUT Surely GOD will not FORSAKE Nigeria

The source is INEC

Let's believe INEC will do the right thing, so that IMO state will not drag Jega's name to the mud.

let's see how relevant it would be in the next dispensation come 2015

In view of the difficulties experienced with the April 26, 2011 governorship and state assembly election in Imo State, which made the Returning Officer to declare the election inconclusive, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has consulted with its lawyers for advice on the next line of action.

The Commission is scheduled to meet tomorrow, Friday, April 29, 2011 to take a final decision.

INEC hereby urges everyone concerned to be patient and await further directives, which will be communicated as soon as a decision is taken. The Commission also urges everyone to be peaceful and avoid taking the laws into their hands.

The Commission, once again, reiterates its resolve to ensure the highest level of integrity and credibility for the electoral process and hereby solicits the cooperation of all stakeholders.

Kayode R. Idowu
Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman

Gubernatorial Election winners for JIGAWA, NASARAWA, OGUN, ENUGU, YOBE, LAGOS, KANO, KWARA, IMO, OYO, GOMBE, AKWA-IBOM, ABIA, BORNO, RIVERS, KATSINA, BENUE, EBONYI, KEBBI, ZAMFARA, NIGER, DELTA, PLATEAU and TARABA.


State    Wining Party    Governor-elect

1

JIGAWA PDP SULE LAMIDO
2

NASARAWA CPC UMARU TANKO AL-MAKURA
3

OGUN ACN SEN. IBIKUNLE OYELAJA AMOSUN
4

ENUGU PDP SULLIVAN IHEANACHO CHIME
5

YOBE ANPP ALH. IBRAHIM GAIDAM
6

LAGOS ACN BABATUNDE RAJI FASHOLA, SAN
7

KANO PDP MOHAMMED RABIU M.K.
8

KWARA PDP ALH. ABDULLAHI AHMED
9

IMO INCONCLUSIVE *
10

OYO ACN SEN. ABIOLA ADEYEMI AJIMOBI
11

GOMBE PDP IBRAHIM HASSAN DANKWAMBO
12

AKWA-IBOM PDP GODSWILL OBOT AKPABIO
13

ABIA PDP ORJI THEODORE AHAMEFULE
14

BORNO ANPP KASHIM SHETTIMA
15

RIVERS PDP CHIBUIKE ROTIMI AMAECHI
16

KATSINA PDP BARR. IBRAHIM SHEHU SHEMA
17

BENUE PDP RT. HON. GABRIEL T. SUSWAN
18

EBONYI PDP MARTIN NWANCHO ELECHI
19

KEBBI PDP SAIDU USMAN NASAALU
20

ZAMFARA ANPP ABDUL-AZIZ YARI ABUBAKAR
21

NIGER PDP DR. MUAZU BABANGIDA ALIYU
22

DELTA PDP DR. EMMANUEL E. UDUAGHAN
23

PLATEAU PDP JONAH DAVID JANG
24

TARABA PDP DANBABA DANFULANI SUNTAI


Download PDF: Gubernatorial Election Winners 2011 (2357)
http://www.inecnigeria.org/gubernatorial-election-winners-2011/

Imo Elections is inconclusive for now(INEC)

Following the post elections violence in parts of some Northern states,immediately after the presidential elections, one could think that the foul cry of Buhari the Presidential candidate of CPC then could lead to the party sweeping the states across the North and other parts of the country during the gubernatorial polls.

But from the results so far released,one could be forced to ask where is the [b]STRENGTH AND MIGHT [/b]of the CPC owing to the allusion that it was robbed of victory in the presidential election,even other parties that supported Jonathan not just PDP did vote along their party affiliations during the gubernatorial elections e.g ACN sweeping the entire western region of the country

So where is the strength of the CPC if so far it could only win one state?

I think Buhari is just being incisive

Pls help me ask oooooooooooh, perhaps bullet wounds and cutlass cut have become the same thing.
The massive importation of arms prior to the elections what was it meant for>?

The news is from the sun newspapers and trust our press men on their presentations

its a serious issue or don't u think so?

hope this country can manage its multi-dimensional challenges

The presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), has challenged President Goodluck Jonathan to arrest him if he can.
Buhari spoke against the backdrop of the call by the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, that the CPC candidate be arrested over the recent post-election violence in some Northern states.

Oritsejafor, while addressing newsmen at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of General Buhari and all identified cohorts before they plunge the nation into another civil war. Speaking through his spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, Buhari said Oritsejafor’s comment, calling for his arrest, was reckless and bound to heat up the polity.

Odumakin said: “General Buhari is in Daura. So, let Jonathan go and arrest him. One of his contractors has asked him to arrest Buhari. He is in Daura now. So, let him go and arrest him.”(Odumakin)
He said men like Oritsejafor were supposed to make statements that would calm frayed nerves, “but unfortunately, it can’t be hidden that the CAN leadership under Oritsejafor had become an extension of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and it is unfortunate that he is partisan to this extreme.
“It is unfortunate and it is a shame and it is a betrayal of his calling to be dragging the entire body of Christ into partisan politics,” Buhari said.

Buhari noted that it was not a hidden fact that Oritsejafor has always been a friend of Aso Rock and if you have watched his activities since he became CAN president, his activities have been more at Aso Rock and the government houses across the country rather than within the body of Christ. While urging Nigerians to ignore Oritsejafor, Buhari said his statement is not different from that of the PDP’s Acting National Chairman, Haliru Bello, adding that Oritsejafor should be ignored like any other PDP chieftain.
He also said his comment on Oritsejafor had nothing to do with the body of Christ, saying we are separating Oritsejafor, his person from the body of Christ.

“We have no issue with the body of Christ in Nigeria, but the PDP contractors like him who have taken over the leadership of that respected organization, are using the body of Christ to further their personal interest and not the interests of the body of Christ in Nigeria.

“And it will be good for him to read what his Bible says about the false accuser of the brethren. That is the role he is playing now; false accuser of the brethren because what he is doing is making false accusation and seeking the persecution of Buhari based on political contract and not on any fact.” He added: “Men like Oritsejafor are profiting from the rot in Nigeria today and since he became the president of CAN, there is no one word he has spoken against corruption in Nigeria.

“He has never issued a word against the rot in Nigeria and it is now that the lickers of Nigeria have regained their control with open electoral robbery, that he is now coming out to ask for the persecution of the victory of electoral robbery. “This clearly shows that people like him are part of the rot in Nigeria and they want to sustain this unjust system which they are benefitting from at the expense of the people they claim to serve.

“And more importantly, there is no evidence to give, leaking General Buhari with any political violence. He has condemned it, he has berated the rioters and on two occasions (2003,2007) when he was rigged out of elections, he went to court for 54 months. That is not the attitude of a man, who believes in violence and Ayo Oritsejafor has never condemned the rape of democracy in Nigeria. He has never condemned the stealing of votes. So, his selective sense of justice baffles all because this selective integrity is bundling.”

While saying that the CAN president should be asked if that was his Easter message to the nation, Buhari said he hoped Oritsejafor would provide the chain on his neck to hang him when he is arrested. Commenting on Oritsejafor’s demand in a telephone interview with Daily Sun, immediate past President of the CAN, Archbishop John Onaiyekan, said Oritsejafor did not consult him on the statement.
“The only thing I can say is that he did not consult me on that. He did not consult me on that statement. I don’t really know why he said it. So, you should ask him.

“What I do believe, though, is that if the President said he has set up a judicial commission of enquiry, then, I imagine anyone who has any information that will be useful for the commission to present them, hoping that this time, they are serious. “As you know, we have had so many of such commissions, which have come out with nothing. Nigerians have no confidence in those commissions anymore.

“Well, as for the statement of CAN president, I am afraid. You should ask the CAN president. I am sure he is in a position to defend whatever he has said. All I am saying is that I was not consulted on the statement. I have nothing to say,” the Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop of Abuja said.

If only we can take a clue from what is happening around us,does it mean that a former president or top government official cannot be tried even when it is an open secret of his/her deeds?

Following the wave of post-presidential violent protest and destruction of lives and property in some parts of the North, the National President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of former head of state and presidential standard bearer of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari and all identified cohorts before they plunge the nation into another civil war.
Addressing newsmen at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos yesterday, Pastor Oritsejafor warned that the much desired quest for a united Nigeria would remain a mirage if the nation continued to allow persons fanning the embers of disunity to roam the streets of the country.

Pastor Oritsejafor argued that the Federal Government had already blamed the CPC presidential candidate for the post-election mayhem in different parts of the North, amid fears by parents whose children were involved in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme in that part of the country, noting that in a decent society such persons should be made to face the full weight of the law. He said there were several other influential individuals the security outfits might have identified to be behind the mayhem and wondered why the authorities have not arrested and properly prosecuted them, stating that there should be no sacred cows.

“I don’t know how the Federal Government should sanction sponsors of such mayhem that have left hundreds of innocent Nigerians dead but I think the government should do something to keep this nation one indivisible entity for the benefit of every citizen,” he stated. According to the fiery pastor and founder of Warri, Delta State-based Word of Life Bible Church: “I believe in one indivisible Nigeria but I also believe that if Nigeria is ever going to remain one nation, which I believe it could, then certain persons must be sanctioned because of this continued violence we are experiencing in the northern part of Nigeria.

“Let us not pretend by always saying the violence is taking place in some parts of the country. People like Gen. Buhari and others like him should not be allowed to roam the streets of this country because they are part of the confusion that has enveloped the nation today. “I believe that the current violence we are experiencing in parts of the North is because certain highly placed persons in this country magnified the PDP problem of zoning offices and gave the impression to the electorate and the generality of northerners, especially the gullible illiterates that it was their turn to rule.

“Basically, what we are seeing today is the fact that they feel it is their turn to rule. Those people who are perpetrating the mayhem do not know who won the elections and in what place. In fact, you will recall that the violence started long before the INEC chairman actually declared the results and sadly the mayhem is mostly in the states where Gen. Buhari won,” the pastor further explained.

KADUNA — “I was sleeping outside with some of my brothers when we were jolted from sleep at about 2 am on Sunday by cries of women and children, and pandemonium all around us”, recalls Zakaria Elisha (25), a Christian and trader of Nasarawa, a Christian dominated suburb of Kaduna, on his sick bed at St. Gerard Hospital, Kaduna, his face swathed in bandage, soaked in blood.




A victim of the Kaduna crises, Miss Naomi amos on her sick bed at ECWA Health Centre, Narayi, Kaduna on Thursday. Photo by: Olu Ajayi
“We had heard rumours that supporters of CPC (Congress for Progressive Change), were coming to attack us, because Buhari (Gen Muhamadu Buhari, CPC Presidential candidate) was losing to Jonathan Goodluck, and they had to kill us because no Christian must rule Nigeria again.

“I thought it was a lie, because it had been long since we held this kind of violence.
(The last main ethno-religious crisis in Kaduna broke out in 2006 after a newspaper cartoon in Denmark angered Muslims across the globe)

“I woke up, and saw scores of Hausa boys with knives, sticks, guns, bows and arrows.
“Some were shooting, some were pursuing people and stabbing them ”, he said, groamking in pain as nurses and medics darted across the ward to take care of a record number of emergency cases as the Hospital officials claimed.

“We rushed and ran, but straight into another gang, who started cutting us with their long machetes. My two brothers were cut down. I don’t know what followed, but I was able escape with these wounds”, he said.

Dauda Hafis, 27, a Muslim and truck driver was retuning from Suleija to Zaria last Monday when he ran into a heavy roadblock mounted by Christian youths spoiling for war.

“I was stopped, and forced out. “They rushed at me with sticks and knives. “I was beaten with clubs, while others used machetes on me.

“Before I passed on, I saw my truck on fire and “I woke up in this hospital.

“I was told that some soldiers on patrol saw me and brought me here”, he said.
The soldiers were said to have turned on some residents for no just cause.

“A soldier broke down our gate, came into our compound and ordered everyone to get into his room and lock up”, said Naomi Amos 23, an applicant, who spoke on her hospital bed at the ECWA Health Centre, Narayi, Kaduna last Thursday.

“As I made haste to get my things and move in, the soldier said I was too slow.
“He hit me on the head with a club and was cursing Yakowa and Goodluck.

“I fell on the floor, and he hit me again. “But I blocked it with my hand, which now has a fracture, by the way I am feeling. “When he wanted to hit me for the third time, an old woman rushed at him and said she should be killed instead. “That was how my life was saved”, she said.

In Tudun Wada, Rigassa, Unguwan Sarki, Unguwan Shanu, Kawom Unguwan Ma’uazu, and Kabala Doki are ruins of churches and homes of victims.

The situation is not different in Narayi, Television Village, Sabon Tasha, Unguwan Romi, Maraban Riddo, and Unguwan Sunday, where no mosque remained standing on Thursday, houses and businesses of Muslims destroyed.

Many long-time residents of Kaduna, and those who claim knowledge of the state, agree that the latest wave of violence is unprecedented, in the number of casualties.

The Public Relations Officer of St. Gerard Hospital, Kaduna, Mr. Sunday John Ali, said: “We had about 30 corpses last Saturday. There were about 30 more bodies that were brought from outside”, he added.

“By Sunday, we had about over 300 victims, mostly from wounds sustained from bullets fired by high calibre weapons.

“All the hospitals in Kaduna were filled to capacity. Those that have mortuaries were also filled to the brim.

“It is only this hospital that tried to accommodate all that came. The doctors, nurses and all workers here worked so hard, that for 24 hours our x-ray machine was working. I have never seen this number of human beings injured; there has never been any fight like this in Kaduna.

Those who claim to read the signals of a looming danger in Kaduna, city the booing of Vice President Namadi Sambo and his wife during the National Assembly and Presidential election at his Camp Road voting unit by unruly CPC supporters.

The Chairman, CAN, Northern Nigeria, Elder Saidu Dogo, complained to Saturday Vanguard that, “before the Presidential elections, we heard of highly incisive preaching in mosques all over northern states, encouraging Muslims on what to do.

“Party offices were spared in affected areas, so why were Churches the first targets, then Christian clerics?”, he said, adding “this violence is clearly religious, not political.

“In Bauchi State, I have been informed that about 72 churches were burnt, and 32 Christians killed. Among them are 8 Youth Corps members. We are still getting more on the casualties. In Kano and in Zaria, most of our churches there were burnt, and several of our members killed. In Malumfashi, in Katsina State, no fewer than 18 churches were burnt, and I am yet to get the number of clerics and lay Christians killed”, he added.

But the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), the Muslim umbrella body in the North, dismissed the claims of CAN, saying, “it is a fabricated lie that can never be substantiated. “It is unfortunate that a religious leader would make such a comment at a time like this”, he said.

“Some of the problem that we face in this country is the hypocrisy of some of our religious leaders. We as leaders must learn to say what will not cause more problems.

“As far as the JNI is concerned, the violence is unfortunate, and uncalled for. The casualty is heaviest in Southern part of Kaduna. In Zonkwa, the Imam of the town was brought out on the road and slaughtered like a ram. Many mosques and Muslims were killed there, because the place is dominated by Christians. Also, on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway, passengers where attacked and killed by Christians ”.

In Kafanchan, CPC supporters allegedly imported mercenaries who went around shooting PDP supporters and non-Muslims and setting their homes and churches ablaze.

“I saw the body of a man beheaded after he was killed by these men”, said a source caught in the violence on Monday night.

“They are using grenade and rocket launchers, and the guns they are firing are not mere AK47s”, he told Vanguard from his hiding place.

The Police in Kafanchan were unable to curtail the situation, after youths from surrounding villages teamed up and entered Kafanchan around midnight to challenge the CPC armed men.

It was gathered that, with bows and arrows, cutlasses and sticks they managed to slow the advances of the attackers into some areas by their share numbers.

*The casualties
Number unknown but they include Prof. Ali Obge, of the Department of Guardian and Counselling, Faculty of Education, Ahmadu Bello Zaria; a female unidentified student of ABU, Samaru Campus, Zaria , was killed, her remains severed into two and dumped near a rail line.

In Zonkwa town, the JNI, said that the Cheif Imam of the town was slaughtered among other Muslims last Monday. The Kaduna state Police Command said they lost five officers.

About 100 churches in Ikara LGA were burnt. All the mosques in Zangon Kataf, LGA, and some Christain dominated areas of Kaduna town brought down.

The PDP in Kaduna state said in a statement that the houses of Ambassador Sule Buba, the Director General of the Yakowa-Nakowa Campaign organization, Alhaji Habibu Dobani, the zone 1 chairman of PDP and the Zaria house of Alhaji Sani Dauda (ASD) set on fire and razed down by CPC mob.

Also, two houses in Zaria and Makarfi belonging to Alhaji Hassan Jumare, Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly and all his filling stations were burnt.

Other houses burnt include those of Alhaji Rabiu Jafaru, Commissioner for Lands and Survey, Hajia Halima Labbo, Commissioner for Special Duties, Alhaji Shehu Giant, former chairman of Kaduna North Local Government, Sadaunan Badarawa and Hon Tambuwal, amongst others said the PDP.

In Kafancha, the entire main market is now rubbles.
All businesses of non-Muslims, especially supermarkets and beer houses were torched.

I share ur view as well

UNLESS remedial steps are taken, the governorship and House of Assembly election in Jigawa State may be affected by the shortage of ad-hoc officials as some members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) have abandoned their primary assignments.

Corps members serving in Hadejia Local Council had sent a Save Our Souls (SOS) message to the NYSC coordinator in the state following threats to their lives during post- election violence in the area last Monday.

Consequently, the state NYSC’s Coordinator, Mr. Baba Ahmed, has withdrawn the 350 corps members from the area due to insecurity.

Ahmed told The Guardian yesterday in Dutse that the corps members were withdrawn from their places of primary assignments because of threats to their lives by hoodlums in the area.

He said: “They called me and the director-general, asking us to take them from Hadejia because their lives were not secured.

“They also reported to us that the irate youths stormed the police station threatening them where they were taking refuge. As I am talking to you now, I have brought all the corps members in the area to state capital for their safety.”

He said that the NYSC had informed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the corps members in Hadejia would not participate in the forthcoming governorship and House of Assembly election.

Hadejia, Mallamadori, and Jahun were among the towns that experienced post-election violence in the state, where many churches were raised down and several persons displaced.

Meanwhile, Governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Alao- Akala, has promised adequate protection for INEC ad-hoc personnel, NYSC members during the governorship election on Tuesday.

Alao-Akala also urged parents of the corps members not to loose sleep over the safety of their children in the state “because the government will ensure the necessary protection and non-violent atmosphere during the election.“

In a statement yesterday, the governor’s spokesman, Dotun Oyelade, said special arrangements had been made to shield them from danger during the exercise.

The picture is becoming clearer day by day my dear and soon their nemesis will catch them

HE United Nations (UN) is taking the post-election violence in Nigeria beyond the realm of the country’s internal affairs.

Without encroaching on the powers of the Federal Government to maintain law and order, the UN through the International Criminal Court (ICC) says it will investigate the crisis to determine whether crimes against humanity were committed.

In a statement from the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor, Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said it was following the mayhem in Nigeria from the National Assembly to the presidential polls to determine whether crimes abhorred by the global body had been committed.

At home, ethnic, religious, social groups and individuals yesterday condemned the unwarranted attacks on Nigerians by thugs believed to be championing the cause the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) presidential candidate, Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, who lost the election to the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan.

Among those who deplored the violence and demanded the probe of its masterminds are the leaders of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Jama’atu Nasir Islam (JNI), South-South Elders Forum, the Eastern Mandate Union (EMU), and the Youth Adolescent Reflection and Action Centre, (YARAC).

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed yesterday that over 8,000 persons had been displaced by the crisis in Bauchi State.

In the statement made available to journalists yesterday, ICC said: “It is closely following the situation in Nigeria and is concerned with the outbreak of violence surrounding the National Assembly and presidential elections of April 2011.

“In the context of its ongoing preliminary examination activities, the Office will seek to establish whether the recent violence may have been planned and organised and whether crimes falling within the court’s jurisdiction may have been committed.

“The Office is mindful that the upcoming governorship elections on April 26 could lead to further violence. Those, who commit atrocities to gain power will be held to account,” Moreno-Ocampo said.

He added: “in accordance with the complementarity principle, the Office will, in the first place, support national investigations into the violence and its perpetrators.“

The ICC, which is a UN court, has been raising concern on developments in Nigeria, especially recurring religious violence in the northern part of the country.

Based in The Hague, the ICC is an independent and permanent tribunal with the jurisdiction to try genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. But it can only prosecute when and if a UN member state, which is signatory to its protocol and treaty, is unwilling or unable to do so.

In Kaduna State, CAN and JNI have blamed the state government and religious preachers over the bloody crisis in the state where several residents and their property were destroyed.

At a meeting with officials of the state government to look into the causes of the post-election violence, which erupted last Monday, the leaders on the platform of Kaduna State Inter-Religious Harmony Committee, accused the government of not taking proactive measures to avert the crisis. They urged parents to educate their wards to imbibe the necessary morals for peace to prevail in the state.

The state chairman of CAN, Rev. Samuel Kujiat, advised the government to take necessary measures to protect lives and property, especially those living in rural areas.

Kujiat suggested that the religious and opinion leaders should document their resolutions and ensure that government provides lasting solution to crises in the state.

The JNI Chairman, Alhaji Jafa’aru Makarfi, urged the government to adopt proactive security measures ahead of the governorship polls in the state.

The Deputy Governor Ramallan Yero pledged that the government would address issues raised by the leaders.

The Eastern Mandate Union (EMU), which also deplored the violence, warned that it would not accept any situation where certain persons would hide under the cover of election protest to attack Ndigbo.

While warning that Ndigbo might be forced into aggressive defence of their lives and property and vowed “not to watch this kind of pogrom to happen again.”

In a statement, EMU Director of Publicity, Ochie Malachy Chuma, charged the perpetrators and sponsors of the disturbances to sheathe their sword because “no section of the country has the monopoly of violence.”

“We wish to warn the perpetrators of the present mass slaughter of our people in some parts of northern Nigeria and also their sponsors that 2011 is not 1966; that the circumstances of 1966 and today are not the same; all those implicated in the present bloodshed would be held accountable not just in Nigeria but also by the international community. Let no one be deluded to think that such massive liquidation of our people would go unnoticed and unchallenged.”

A political analyst and member of the South- South Elders Forum, Prince Ernest Okojie, yesterday asked Nigerians to support Jonathan to deliver his electoral promises.

Okojie in a statement condemned the post- election violence, killing and destruction of property that trailed the presidential polls, which he said international observers and stakeholders adjudged as the most free, fair and credible exercise since 1999.

The CPC governorship candidate in Enugu State, Chief Osita Okechukwu, has blamed the violence on the failure of zoning policy introduced by the PDP by former President Olusegun obasanjo.

He said crisis over the presidential election could have been avoided if the PDP had allowed the zoning arrangement to succeed by ensuring that the North served out its tenure after the death of former President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Speaking in Enugu yesterday, Okechukwu, called on Jonathan to, as a matter of urgency, consider the remote and immediate causes of the disturbances through a judicial commission of inquiry.

Meanwhile, the number of internally-displaced persons (IDP) in last Monday’s protests and political violence has risen to over 8,030 persons in nine towns and communities in Bauchi State, the North-East Coordinator of NEMA, Aliyu Sambo, has said.

In an interview with The Guardian yesterday in Maiduguri, Sambo said many of the houses and shops of the displaced persons were set ablaze, including mosques and churches that are yet to be ascertained by the agency’s assessment and rescue team.

To cope with the rising number of IDP, he said the agency had set up nine resettlement camps, with the provision of food items, blankets and other basic needs to cushion the shocks and possible outbreaks of diseases at the camps.

He told The Guardian that of the nine resettlement camps, Azare and Katagum local councils have the highest number of 4,300, while Jama’re has 1,700.

Tunde Bakare’s house burnt

Barely one week after the presidential election, tragedy struck the household of vice presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Pastor Tunde Bakare, when his Lagos home was gutted by fire yesterday. No life was lost.

Saturday Sun gathered that the fire, which affected a section of the building, on Abiodun Olaiya Street, off Adefowope, Awuse Estate, Opebi, Lagos and caused substantial damage. It started at about 4pm.

Family members could not say exactly where the fire started or its cause, but revealed they suddenly discovered thick smoke. According to them, before help could come, the fire spread and affected at least three rooms in the building.
Sources revealed that as soon as the fire was noticed, the fire service was alerted, but before fire-fighter arrived, great damage had been done.
When Saturday Sun visited the area last night, two fire buses were leaving the scene after putting put out the fire.

Attempts to gain entry into the compound proved abortive, as policemen and other aides of the pastor of Latter-Rain Assembly stopped visitors. They only allowed people they could identify into the compound.
Speaking to Saturday Sun yesterday, on phone, from Abuja, spokesman of the presidential candidate of CPC and former head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said that the cause of the fire had not been ascertained.
Also commenting on the accident, police public relations officer, Lagos State Police command, Mr. Jinadu, said the cause of the fire was not yet known. He confirmed that policemen had been drafted to the place to ensure security.

Last night, friends and associates of Bakare trooped in to identify with him. Most of them, who came with police orderlies and other security personnel were allowed in. It could not be ascertained if Bakare was in last night, but a young man, who came out of the compound, told Saturday Sun that the pastor-turned politician would make a statement on the fire later. At the time of going to the press, the pastor had not spoken.

In a related development, a bomb last night exploded in a private house in Rafin Guza, Kaduna, near the quarters of the state’s legislators. Three people were feared killed in the explosion, with many others injured. This is coming one week after a bomb exploded in a hotel in the city.

It was gathered that the bomb went off at about 7pm. At the time of going to press, our reporter could not ascertain the owner of the building owing to curfew, which was imposed on the city following the violence that rocked Kaduna after the release of the presidential election results.

The police, however, told Saturday Sun that a team of the bomb disposal unit was dispatched to the area immediately news of the explosion was received.

Yes, because no gates of hell can stop the will of God,all their gatherings are in vain, the Lord will raise standards against them,soon they will begin to kill themselves and not strangers in their midst any longer,is boko haram not an Islamic sect,there are many other sects,Moslem or call it Islam is not homogenous and I assure you they will soon begin to destroy themselves and each others place of worship and not churches again.

We need men/women like him to occupy sensitive positions in this land or do u have contrary view/opinion?

That is politics,don't u think the game is maradonic?

I think government should this time around take proactive measures so that the animals will not be on the streets again after the governorship elections,more so the states of Kaduna and Bauchi will not be having their own election on 26th again.

The death toll in the mayhem, which trailed the April 16 presidential poll in Bauchi, Gombe and Kaduna states has been put at 59. The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said yesterday that 32 Christians were killed in Bauchi State.

The management of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi also reported one of its students was killed by political thugs. In the same vein, 17 people lost their lives in Gombe State. It was also gathered that nine people were killed in Kaduna in the post-election violencewhile 30 sustained various degrees of gunshot injuries.

A senior medical personnel with Salamatu Hospital, Tudun Wada, where the victims were treated, Habiba Abdullahi, who spoke on behalf of the medical director confirmed the casualty figures. Chairman of CAN in the Bauchi State, Revd Musa Mwin Tula gave the figures at a press conference held at the NUJ Secretariat in Bauchi yesterday disclosing that more than 84 churches were burnt or destroyed.
Tula said houses and property worth millions of naira belonging to Christians in the state were targeted, attacked, set ablaze during and after the presidential poll.

He gave the breakdown as thus: “Bauchi Metropolis and environs: 11 Christians were killed, several others wounded, four churches and many houses burnt while property worth millions of naira was destroyed. Alkaleri LGA: Nine Churches and several houses were burnt/destroyed and many Christians were badly wounded.
“Kirfi LGA: Two Churches were burnt in Bara village and several properties destroyed. In Toro LGA, two Churches were burnt while five were burnt in Magamau Gumau and one in Tilde Fulani. Darazo LGA: Two Christians were killed and nine Churches burnt/destroyed.

“Misau LGA: 13 Churches in and around Misau were burnt. Katagum LGA: Several Christians were killed, 18 churches and residential houses, vehicles and properties were burnt/destroyed. Jama’are LGA: 10 Churches and several properties were burnt or destroyed. Itas-Gadau LGA: Three Christians were killed (two corps members and one other), many wounded and property destroyed.

“Giade LGA: 16 Christians were brutally killed, including a Christian police woman and another whose hands were mutilated. Also, four Churches and many properties belonging to Christians were burnt or destroyed in the area. Churches were also burnt in Ningi, Gamawa and Dambam LGAs.” According to the CAN chairman, “we are really shocked and short of words at the level of violence and mayhem that followed, most of which was unleashed and targeted at our unsuspecting members and their property.

“All these killings and destruction are barbaric, evil, satanic and unheard of in the 21st Century. We have had enough of these persecution and destructions of lives and property in Bauchi State.” CAN then asked: “Are all these happenings part of the Islamic Jihad on Christians? Why are all these calculated ad targeted at Christians? This continues to beat our imagination. “What is the connection between political election result and the killing of Christians and burning of our Churches? For the Christian North, we have our choice already. We have made up our minds as we are not slaves under the existing Nigerian Constitution and not even all the forces from hell can reduce us into slaves talk less of some foot soldiers under the guise of a political party.”

Bauchi CAN added that being like Jesus did not mean Christians were cowards but that it was the killers, armed bandits and robbers that were cowards, warning that, “let it be known that no longer would the Christians watch aloof while their wives, children and what they legitimately owned get killed and plundered anymore. Enough of this nonsense. We shall no longer succumb to intimidations or threats. No, not any more. We offer peace for peace and the other side of the coin we leave to God.”

It then condemned in totality what it described as a despicable act and called on the Federal and Bauchi State Governments as well as security agencies to wake up to their responsibilities for the protection of lives and property of the citizenry declaring that, “if there is no adequate security in place we are afraid Christians may not be able to participate in the gubernatorial election. This is because we can no longer afford to lose the lives and properties of our people.”

CAN then demanded for the immediate rebuilding of all Churches burnt and compensations for the families that lost their loved ones while urging government to take immediate measures to put a stop to the killings and destruction of properties.

In a related development, it has been confirmed that 17 people lost their lives during the pro-Muhammadu Buhari widespread violence in Gombe State within the last three days. The mayhem started Saturday night shortly before the collation of the last presidential election held in the state just as 100 suspects have been arrested and are currently in police custody for questioning.

While speaking to newsmen in Gombe after an on-the-spot-assessment tour of the affected areas, the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Operations at the Force Headquarters, Audu Abubakar, described the incident as unfortunate and uncalled for. He called on politicians to always accept election results in good faith as there must be a winner and a looser rather than participating in violent politics, urging them to find a common ground to build the nation.

On death toll, he said, “I am not in the position to say the exact number as at this time because my officers are not yet finished with the investigations, so as soon as they finish we would give you the details.” Daily Sun gathered that the three days violence has claimed lives of not fewer than 17 people while over 100 casualties were brought in for medical attention at the Federal Medical Centre as well as the Specialist Hospital.

Speaking to newsmen, the Acting Head of Clinical Services and Training of the Federal Medical Centre, Gombe, Dr. Ali Shaliza said, 71 patients of post-political violence were brought in to the hospital within the last three days. He added that 11 persons were also brought in dead while two others died in the hospital, saying many out of the patients were admitted while others were treated and discharged.

Also, the Chief Medical Director of Specialist Hospital, Dr. James Mahdi, told Daily Sun that 43 cases were brought in to the hospital while seven people that were critically injured were referred to Federal Medical Centre and 19 were treated and discharged and that nine were on admission out of which two were female corps members, while five death cases were recorded.

In addition, a student of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi was among the people killed in electoral violence. This was contained in a press statement signed by the Public Relation Officer of the polytechnic, Mallam Rabiu Mohammed Wada and made available to newsmen yesterday.

The victim, Aliyu S. Bello, until his death, was a student of the Department of Food Science and Technology. According to the statement, Bello died from injuries sustained during the attack on him by political thugs while serving as a polling clerk at Unguwan Dumi polling station in Bauchi metropolis in the April 16 presidential election.