Beaf:

Add other obvious names like Rewane.

Isn't it funny that the bolded are from the SS? Clown.
The SS also owns most of the big press and huge swathes of the banking industry and stock exchange in Nigeria. Dunce.

That is how they claim . They only own local champions like Punch, Tribune and Nation. The really big papers are owned by SS (many Igbo by origin) and SE people.
Apart from the oil selling companies which we now know are thieving cabals, I do not remember any notable company owned by a Yoruba.
Glo is owned by IBB and not Adenuga.Most companies in Lagos are owned by outsiders or by the public (all Nigerians) or are multi nationals

Rhino.4dm:

That is the true meaning of parasites. if not, what are 3 miilion Igbos doing in kano? even in the face of terrorism and killings? They cant survive in the south east, cos south east has nothing to offer them. If not, what do igbo men have in common with a Kano man?

Remember, kano is a poor and backward state according to you.

Tell me how Igbos in Kano exploit Kano
What does kano give to them? Do they get fed by Kano?
Those people pay their taxes and levies and rents and all such things, no?
Does your claim also mean that SW has nothing to offer the millions of Yorubas living elsewhere outside the SW, including in the SE?

Rhino.4dm:

Yet, Kano alone is deporting 3 miilion Igbo parasites from their state. wonders!!!

It means you do not know the meaning of parasites. Those people and their families were all gainfully employed, some even employing kano people. I will send you a check for 500 USD if you show me where Igbos in Kano are reported to be beging for food and money like Yoruas and their northern cousins. And BTW, no one is deporting them. They are leaving for their safety of their own free will. You are a blatant liar.

musiwa,,.:

The western niger

Is the world third largest producer of cocoa.
[s]It is the world second largest producer of cassava.
It is the world fourth world largest producer of yam
It is the world firth largest producer of corn [/s]

Lies and false claims
And the money generated from coacoa comes from all 14 cocoa-producing states in Nigeria with Ondo being the highest, I agree.

nwabobo:

Dude, you are the one not getting it here. I listed some notable human capital that Anambra state alone has contributed to Nigeria and that is in line with the topic. Now, in case you don't know, wealth in the South East is not centralized unlike in the North where a man can be feeding the whole village. In Anambra state where I come from, there is hardly a nuclear family without a millionaire in it. For every Dangote you mention, I can list the Ibetos, Coscharis, Innoson,  Emzor, Ekene Dili chukwu, Chisco etc all from the same Local Government Area. Can you do that for ur state?

On the bolded please add the SW. Adedibu was feeding the entire poor in Ibadan on daily basis. There is no difference in the crude poverty in the SW and the North.

Dumb question as usual
The SE contributes:
Over 30% of the qualified human resources in Nigeria (education, quality labor force, sports, entertainment etc are people of SE origin). Without SE peoples there will be no super eagles, no female super eagles, no Nollywood, etc
Many of the professors in non-SE universities are Igbos
A significant % of university students all over Nigeria are Igbos, paying billions in IGR to fed and state govts in tuition
A significant % of self employed Nigerians are Igbos: self employment has contributed most in relieving the incompetent federal governments so far run by northerners ad SWner of the burden of providing jobs for the teeming population
Ebonyi is a food basket of Nigeria, which together with Benue and other food baskes save us billions in importation
Imo and Abia are among the oil and gas producing states- 80% of our foreign exchange comes from oil
Imo and Abia are among the 14 cocoa producing states====cocoa has become a good foreign exchange earner in recent times
Enugu has the highest coal reserve in Nigeria
Anambra has abundant oil and gas yet untouched
Igbos contribute in the development of other zones by building, conducting business, employing people from other places and paying taxes and other financial duties in those places
By being 80% of the importers who use the seaports, Igbos contribute to the second most important IGR earner in Nigeria: Custom and Exercise
By being 80% of those who use the international airports daily, Igbos sustain our airports in terms of money generation for the govt
Igbo researchers in Unudike, Abia states gave Nigera the first and only vitami A fortified cassava in Nigeria
Cassava is an important, if not the most important home staple in Nigeria. Research conducted by SE researchers in Umudike moved that crop to the level it is today
Igbos make the highest foreign remittance in Nigeria helping to alleviate poverty in Nigeria, even if in the SE.
Even though 2 SE states contribute in generating the oil money that sustains us, the SE collects the least amount of all zones in fed money, that makes us least dependent on the center
The SE (together withe the SS) has contributed least in the federal corruption and misgovervance in Nigeria. I can go on and on and on

musiwa,,.:

what we are saying is that this state are not contributing anything to the economy, it does not mean they are depending on govt.

The reason for militia from the eastern is because the east does not contribute anything to Nigeria.  This is why. Your question is how do you make them contribute to Nigeria.

Look when I lived in the north . I own a farm about several acre of land. And I employed about 10 northerners to work for me. I was young.  I was not married , just came out of the university. This people I employ were married people.

What does SW contribute to Nigeria?
Why do we have hordes of deadly motor park touts, almajiris and the worst money-making ritualists and armed robbers in the SW?

Lets see the SW match our contribution
What has teh SW contributed?

Dumb question as usual
The SE contributes:
Over 30% of the qualified human resources in Nigeria (education, quality labor force, sports, entertainment etc are people of SE origin). Without SE peoples there will be no super eagles, no female super eagles, no Nollywood, etc
Many of the professors in non-SE universities are Igbos
A significant % of university students all over Nigeria are Igbos, paying billions in IGR to fed and state govts in tuition
A significant % of self employed Nigerians are Igbos: self employment has contributed most in relieving the incompetent federal governments so far run by northerners ad SWner of the burden of providing jobs for the teeming population
Ebonyi is a food basket of Nigeria, which together with Benue and other food baskes save us billions in importation
Imo and Abia are among the oil and gas producing states- 80% of our foreign exchange comes from oil
Imo and Abia are among the 14 cocoa producing states====cocoa has become a good foreign exchange earner in recent times
Enugu has the highest coal reserve in Nigeria
Anambra has abundant oil and gas yet untouched
Igbos contribute in the development of other zones by building, conducting business, employing people from other places and paying taxes and other financial duties in those places
By being 80% of the importers who use the seaports, Igbos contribute to the second most important IGR earner in Nigeria: Custom and Exercise
By being 80% of those who use the international airports daily, Igbos sustain our airports in terms of money generation for the govt
Igbo researchers in Unudike, Abia states gave Nigera the first and only vitami A fortified cassava in Nigeria
Cassava is an important, if not the most important home staple in Nigeria. Research conducted by SE researchers in Umudike moved that crop to the level it is today
Igbos make the highest foreign remittance in Nigeria helping to alleviate poverty in Nigeria, even if in the SE.
Even though 2 SE states contribute in generating the oil money that sustains us, the SE collects the least amount of all zones in fed money, that makes us least dependent on the center
The SE (together withe the SS) has contributed least in the federal corruption and misgovervance in Nigeria. I can go on and on and on

Adedibu and his amala boys

https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-144715.0.html

Emerging trend of social almajiri in Yorubaland
By Hakeem Jamiu

There is a social malaise which is gradually creeping into the lexicon of Yorubaland and this is the ugly spectre of hungry children begging for food and alms at social events. Older women are equally not left out in this ugly but strange practice in Yorubaland. It is strange in Yorubaland because the concept of almajiri which simply means street urchin is common in the Northern part of the country. Yorubas use to refer derisively to anybody soliciting for arms in Yorubaland in the olden days as almajiri. The almajiri of the North are usually children between the age bracket of 7 and 20 in most cases. Almajiris are so desperate for food that any unsuspecting visitor to the Northern part of the country who goes to a restaurant to eat but mistakenly left his food to wash his hands is likely to lose such to waiting almajiris before he comes back for the food.


I first noticed this ugly trend at a ceremony I attended a few months ago at Ayetoro Ekiti. Elderly and middle aged able bodied women from Kwara, Osun and Oyo states invaded the burial ceremony uninvited and were embarrassing guests who refused to give them money. Also noticeable were children with their begging bowls who thronged the venue of the ceremony soliciting for left over food and alms. The children were a pitiable sight. Poverty was clearly written on their faces. I have attended many social functions after that and the same trend was noticeable. But I became worried a few days ago, when I attended the burial ceremony of a friend's father in Ilesha , Osun State . They came in various groups and employ different methods in soliciting for alms. There were the elderly women who were busy harassing guests in the name of praise singing and would not leave until you part with money, there were the men with their public address system which they use in praise singing but which is disturbance and yet, there were Yoruba children in the mould of almajiris with their begging bowls scrambling for left-over and at the same time soliciting for alms.


Fellow guests on my table at the event who were also journalists expressed their concern in unison about the growing trend of almajiri of various categories in Yorubaland. They all agreed that it has become a social problem. We started discussing and realised that the culture of begging in the mould of almajiris is alien to Yoruba culture. In those days before the advent of the British, the Yorubas are a proud people known for their hard work and industry. They practiced hoe agriculture and were well known as traders and for their crafts. Yoruba artists have produced masterpieces of woodcarving and bronze casting, some of which date from as early as the 13th century. Many of Nigeria 's best-known artists and writers are Yoruba. Other occupation of the Yorubas at that time were drumming and masquerading which would now be called showbiz. They engage in all the foregoing occupation but a Yoruba man or woman (able bodied) would not beg for alms as it is considered shameful and something akin to a curse. The Yorubas cherish their oriki (folklore) which is a poetic version of eulogizing the exploits of their progenitors which is an incentive for them to excel and even surpass their progenitors. The Yorubas have harsh words for lazy people. Such people are objects of ridicule and butt of jokes in the society. With this background, it is understandable why we became worried with the array of beggars at the Ilesha ceremony.


After leaving the party, I reflected on the scenario of the almajiris in Ilesha and I was able to draw a relationship between Political almajiris and social almajiris. I discovered that social almajiri had its root in the advent of the politics of do -or-die introduced into the political lexicon of Yorubaland by apostles of mainstream politics especially ex-President Obasanjo. The grand Patron of political almajiris who recently passed away was Chief Lamidi Adedibu. Many have argued that his death has led to the proliferation of almajiris in Yorubaland. This is because those he hitherto dole handouts to must look for other means of survival since he is no more. These political almajiris are ready to exchange their mothers for few coins. A new political class of men without integrity and anything goes was created and they became political almajiris who survive on crumbs from their masters. They would rig, kill, maim and do all sort of things to acquire political power. With the ascension of these men in power, good governance became a thing of the past. Our collective patrimony was squandered by these political almajiris. Nigeria has never been so blessed with petro dollar with oil selling for $156 dollars per barrel but Nigeria has never been so poor with a chunk of the population living below poverty line. So versions of the political almajiris are the social almajiris that now invade ceremonies in Yorubaland. With these children begging for alms, a ready made market for thuggery and other social vices is assured. The activities of the beggars are not limited to parties. At bus stops in our cities, it is a common sight to see women most of who are still in their mid thirties, who would strap a baby at their backs and approach men with stories of despair to solicit for alms. Many of them would end up in bed with such men. This is another brand of alamajiri and these are Yoruba women. A violent version of almajiri but which is gradually being tackled in Lagos is the 'Area Boys' syndrome. These are Yoruba street urchins who are semi- armed robbers.


The underlying factor in this new trend is failure of the Nigerian State on one part and the laziness on the part of these women. Most of them don't want to work, In those days, when everybody's occupation was farming you dare not beg. You must find something to do. But these days, our women and children are too lazy. It is either they steal or beg. In most cases a mother and child become almajiris at social events. So the question now is can a Yoruba man now refer derisively to a Hausa beggar as almajiri when we have many of them now in Yorubaland? The answer is no! This trend must be arrested before it goes out of hand. The almajiris in the North these days engage in novel forms of drug abuse like sniffing of gutter water to get intoxicated, sniffing of adhesives and other drugs so that they are ever ready to unleash terror on the rest of the society whenever they are called upon to do so by the political wing of almajiris. I strongly recommend that guests at public functions must stop encouraging almajiris by giving them money.


But can government which itself owns the political wing of almajiris arrest this trend? Time will tell.

How are yoruba political leaders different from their Igbo counterparts?
Can we see a difference beteen the two leaders before we begin to judge?
Was it not the same Yoruba leaders who sold Abiola to the North?
Was it not the same leaders who allowed a drug pusher (Tinubu) to take over leadership?
Is it not the same leaders who have done nothing for their people being killed like other southerners in the North?
Is it not the same leaders under whose watch we now have Yoruba almajiris begging all over the place?
Is it not the same leaders under whose watch deadly touts have become a menace in Yorubaland, killing and maiming themselves at will?
Since adam, there has been natural refugee camps in Yorubaland and that is in front of Adedibu's here where 1000s queue daily for food. Sine that man died, they have relocated to other places.

Na today? Trust Yoruba at your own peril.

legba1:

This is comfirmed and it will shock you to know that MC Oluomo of oshodi fame is an igbo man.for those of you making useless noice about yoruba and touts,i can tell you there are a good number of them that are "naturalised " igbo men that are born,bread and buttered in lagos who are agberos.so pls guys shut up profer solutions to the crisis at hand.

As usual, they thrive in denial.

@topic. This is no news; it is a habit in those parts.

Lagos state promises (promise not yet fulfilled) to use Igbo tax payers' money to contribute to Ojukwu's burial and some ignoble Yoruba BS are frothing from their a.n.a.l cavity?

hercules07:

@Nchara

I counter your arguments, you resort to insults, I do not want Igbos to leave as the ones off Nairaland are better human beings than their representatives here, we will go through the problems together and we will come out more united to the chagrin of these online guys that are praying for a break up.

What did you counter? What is the basis of your so-called counter? That you said so means what? You joking, right?

hercules07:

@Nchara

All those companies you have mentioned do not constitute up to 10% of lagos economy, transport business is not controlled by Igbos, all those buses plying the SW and Kwara are controlled by Yorubas, those plying the East by Igbos, those going to Edo and Delta are controlled by the respective people, the North is a mix of everybody, not everyone takes luxurious bus, go to Karu park in Abuja and see buses controlled by Yorubas loading Lagos and Abuja environs.
I laugh at your assertion that almost half of the students of unilag are igbos, hope you know that catchment area has something to do with admission and as per profs, that one is a blatant lie.
Why not tell your 50% Igbo that are running things to go back to their villages and lets see if the effect will be 50%, Igbos are contributing to the economy of Lagos as much as other people, to say you guys contribute 50% is laughable.

You are so so ignorant about the facts. BTW, Igbos aint leaving until Nigeria separates. So if you want Lagos left alone by Igbos, you know what to do.

hercules07:

What is all this nonsense about Igbos earning 50% of Lagos? Is it only spare parts that makes the Lagos economy, this is why you guys are stoking up so much hatred for yourselves, you come online claiming things that can not be substantiated and in the process insulting those who are your hosts.

Crazy man. Na only spare parts you see? You no see importation of this and that, Zinox, Coscharis, Pinnacle oil, Capital oil, Emzor, Linkserve, Diamond, etc Banks, Nollywood and all sorts of 100s of Igbo-controlled businesses[b] (Somebody please help me out here with names of Okoro owned coys in Lagos[/b]) ?

You don't see that almost half of the students and Profs at UniLag are Igbos? You don't know who controls the transport business in and out of Lagos?
You don't know that 50% of the private sector workforce in Lagos are Igbo? Add that to the Igbo workforce in the Fed public sector, and all the traders and businessmen paying rents and taxes and all sorts of levies, you get the feel that Igbos pay 50% of the taxes, levies and all sorts of fines that help run Lagos.

Second class citizen for where?
Who get Naija pass Igbos? We run things in our places and elsewhere, owning 50% of Lagos and 70% of Abuja
You mistake those misruling Naija as first class citizens? First class is always a positive attribute; those who have ruled Naija so far have been so incompetent that they have not shown anything near first class.
Sorry, but the OP is crazy or crassly ignorant.

PointB:

In other words Sanusi is the guy who have been advising the Northern Legislators to frustrate the PIB!

And some ignorant mofos are already tipping home for the presidency! Na wa o!

Anyway, my Niger Delta brothers can you ignore the environmental degradation and pollution of your water, and agitation for resource control and feed the 'hungry' and 'densely' populated North so that we can have sharia and peace?

OVER TO YOU!

Sanusi for president---------------indeed. The day that happens, I will seek to be a citizen of Mongolia; yes, of Somalia.

Eko Ile:

Sounds true, but pointless. The looters in the delta are looting every derivation kobo and nothing to show for all the billions and with all the backward, religious  and looting mentality in the north, money wont have made any difference.

Lies and half truths as usual. Isn't there looting by governors in all states of Nigeria? Why is there no BH activity in Lagos where Fasola has looted them dry? Same for Abia and all other states in Nigeria.

Is Sanusi not a BH sponsor, or at least, a justifier of BH's inimical activities?
So what drives the relative peace in those states that are not BH but don't get 13% derivation?
What else is behind the reason for the Islamic banking he propagates?

CBN Governor Sanusi:  13% Derivation to South south States Feeding Boko Haram Insurgency.

alt

According to the governor of the CBN, the derivation formula which gives 13% of oil revenues to states in the Niger Delta is feeding the Boko Haram insurgency because some states are not getting enough revenues from Nigeria's oil wealth despite their huge population.

Sanusi  spoke in an interview with the Financial Times Friday. He said "There is clearly a direct link between the very uneven nature of distribution of resources and the rising level of violence."

"When you look at the figures and look at the size of the population in the north, you can see that there is a structural imbalance of enormous proportions. Those states simply do not have enough money to meet basic needs while some states have too much money.

"The imbalance is so stark because the state still depends on oil for more than 80 per cent of its revenues," said Sanusi.

He said that it was now necessary to focus funds on regenerating other regions if Nigeria wants to secure long-term stability.

There has also been complaints from many legislators that the Petroleum Industry Bill gives too much to the host communities which us why it is being resisted by the National Assembly.

But others note that when Nigeria was getting independence from the United Kingdom, the agreement the founding fathers had with the British is that the wealth created by the regions will be used for the regions with a tax being paid out to the Central Government, thus in the North, the funds from agriculture, tin and hides and skins were not ceded to the central government whereupon it was now shared by all of the then three regions. The same was the case with the Eastern and Western region.

It was not until the military took over that the controversial unification decree (decree no. 34) was passed and which stripped the regions of the powers that they had over their resources. the regions, now states did not voluntarily relinquish these rights.

And also, the principle of federalism is that states in a federal system control their resources and pay a tax to the Federal Government. The current system in Nigeria where some states are almost entirely dependent on the wealth created from other states and feel cheated when those states getvto keep a part of their resources as the CBN Governor,  Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is now insinuating is jot federalism.

This is also not the first time that a linkage is being made between derivation and the Boko Haram insurgency.

Last month, National Secretary of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) drew a similar link. Buba Galadima in an interview with the BBC had said  “Why didn't the president crush the Niger Deltans? That's a questions a lot of people in this part of the country are asking”

"The people are sympathetic to certain principles and ideas," he told the BBC. "If people feel they are being denied anything or an injustice is being meted out to them then there is a likelihood that they will take the law into their own hands and help themselves."

Mr Galadima, who is from near Damaturu, where last week's attack took place, raised the case of the former militants from the oil-rich Niger Delta who were given generous financial packages from the government to keep them out of trouble.

"Why didn't the president crush the Niger Deltans? That's a questions a lot of people in this part of the country are asking," he said.

"Instead they are being rewarded for the economic destruction they brought Nigeria. Why can't the same be true for Boko Haram?"

And while many political leaders including opposition party, Action
Congress of Nigeria, are advocating for true and fiscal federalism, it appears that there are others who feel that Nigerians resources should be be shared equally regardless of who does the production. How that system can be termed federalism remains to be seen.


http://www.naijapundit.com/news/cbn-governor-sanusi-13-derivation-to-south-south-states-feeding-boko-haram-insurgency

How old is ''old story''? Two weeks old story is old and we still talk about Biafra war of 40 years or so? Some morons!!!!!

BTW, good to see SW muslim(s) represented in BH activity in the old East.

Bomb blast at luxury bus park: 2 injured
From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Friday January 27, 2012

•
Photo: Sun News Publishing

More Stories on This Section

At least two persons were, yesterday, injured in Kano after a locally made Improvised Explosive Device (IED) went off at a luxury bus park, situated at New Road in Sabon-Gari, Kano.

The Daily Sun gathered that the explosion, which caused a minor mishap around the Lagos Line area of the park, sparked off in-between two East-bound luxury vehicles, namely Gobison Motors and God Loves Ezenwata Motors. The impact of the explosion shattered the glass of one of the luxury buses that was in the park.
The spark went off as passengers, mostly southerners fleeing the state on account of the Boko Haram tragedy, went in the morning to buy their tickets and get their items loaded ahead of their journey.

The two persons, whose names could not be identified as at press time, were rushed to a nearby private clinic for medical attention, said witnesses. But a police source, who begged anonymity, said only one person was injured in the blast.

The explosion immediately threw the Sabon-Gari Quarters, a predominantly non-native community, into confusion, resulting in a brief stampede that saw traders and market people hurriedly closing their shops and speedily dashing to their respective homes.
A team of soldiers as well as operatives of the Bomb Disposal Unit of the Nigeria Police were immediately invited to the scene of the incident. They, in turn, cordoned off the whole area and asked all the passengers and luxury vehicles to vacate the park while they searched for possible more explosives.

The Daily Sun was told that the explosive was hidden in a bag by its owners, adding that the bag was among the items meant to be loaded in the bus. At least, one person was arrested by the officers at the scene while there were indications that the officers might have defused other explosives within the park. A laptop was also retrieved from the scene of the incident and taken away by the police.

There has been no official comment so far. Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Magaji Majiya declined comment on the matter when the Daily Sun contacted him, saying he had not been briefed on the matter.



http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/newsonthehour/2012/jan/27/newsbreak-27-01-2012-001.html

How correct is Rochas? See below

What is going on here, my SW peps?

SW and SS Boko Haramites arrested in PH

Five members of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, suspected to be behind a plan to bomb government formations in Port Harcourt have been arrested by the army.

Our correspondent learnt that the five suspects were arrested in the oil city last month and were being detained at 2 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt in Rivers State.

SUNDAY PUNCH’s investigations revealed that the men of the Military Intelligence in the brigade apprehended the culprits with Improvised Explosive Devices, the type that had been used by the Islamic sect for devastating attacks in Abuja and other parts of the North.

According to a senior military source, who pleaded anonymity, investigations have showed that the suspects were on a mission to carry out a bomb attack on the Port Harcourt Brigade and oil installations on December 25, 2011, the same day as the tragic Madalla killings.

Army interrogators reportedly found out that the aborted bombing of the Port Harcourt Brigade was planned to coincide with the devastating one in Madalla

The source added that the military authorities had been silent on the arrest, considered a major breakthrough, because of the need to ensure the success of the search for the members of the sect.

Incidentally, the six members were arrested a day before the bombing of the St. Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State on Christmas Day.

A source, who confided in one of our correspondents, said military interrogators were able to extract “valuable information” from the five men.

Further investigations by our correspondent revealed that three of the arrested terror suspects were Hausa Fulani, one a Yoruba Muslim and the other a South-South Islamic convert from Calabar, Cross River State.Chineke mee!

Our correspondent gathered that a soldier, who had been arrested alongside the five suspects, was found to be innocent and was released to go at the end of the investigations.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the 2 Brigade Command, Port Harcourt, Lieutenant Colonel Aminu Iliyasu, confirmed the arrest of the suspects.

Iliyasu, who spoke in a telephone interview with SUNDAY PUNCH on Friday, disclosed that the matter had been referred to the appropriate authorities for further investigation.

“The matter has been referred to the appropriate authorities,” the army spokesman, who did not make further comment on the arrest of the suspects, said.

Earlier on Thursday, the Commander of the 2 Brigade Nigerian Army Port Harcourt in Rivers State, Brigadier General Yusuf Buratai, confirmed that security agencies in the state foiled an attempt to bomb the army formation, Bougavilla Hotel and the Shell facility in the state capital.

“Through the collaborative efforts of the Brigade and DSS, an attempt to bomb Port Harcourt Barrack (Bori Camp), Bougainvilla Hotel and Shell facility along Aba Road was foiled on night of December 24, 2011.

“The suspects were arrested in the barracks as well as other locations within Port Harcourt city. They had materials for making Improvised Explosive Devices capable of causing heavy damage,” Buratai noted.

The interrogation of the suspects is coming just as the FG on Friday set up a panel of inquiry to investigate the escape of Kabiru Umar (a.k.a. Kabiru Sokoto), the alleged mastermind of the Madalla Christmas Day church bombing that claimed at least 44 lives, from custody of the police.

The Minister of Police Affiars, Mr. Caleb Olubolade, had said that the panel, which is made up of senior police ministry officials and military officers, had been given a week to submit its findings on how Sokoto managed to slip his handlers while being transferred for interrogation in Abuja.

he Inspector-General Hafiz Ringim has already been given a query over the escape of Sokoto, who is accused of belonging to the sect.

The minister added that the IG’s response to the query was being considered by the panel.

Already, the police have offered a N50m bounty for information leading to Sokoto’s capture.

Meanwhile, military authorities have issued a repeated directive to all military formations in the country to be on the red alert and be holistic in the screening of visitors as a result of the simultaneous bomb blasts that rocked Kano city on Friday evening.

The screening process is to involve all military personnel and cars that are painted in military colours.

part from using the newly acquired bomb detectors in screening vehicles visiting the military formations, military personnel are also directed to ensure a physical screening of all visitors.

A highly-placed military source said, “Yes, there is a directive to that effect, anybody going into our barracks would be thoroughly screened to avoid any incident of bomb attacks.

“Yes, it is true that bombs can explode anywhere but we are taking precautionary measure.”

Also, top military personnel, who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity, said it was not unexpected for the military to put its men on the red alert.

The source added that the Kano blast had reinforced the fact that members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect were after security agencies and agents.

When our correspondent contacted the Director of Army Public Relations, Maj. Raphael Isa, he said it was his prayer that army formations were not attacked by the sect.

“I pray that they don’t try to attack our formation; that is my reaction,” he said.

On Friday, an eyewitness at the scene of the police headquarters that was bombed said the bomber pulled up near the building on a motorbike, got off and ran towards the building holding a bag.

“We tried to stop him but he ran in forcefully with his bag. All of a sudden there was a blast. You can see that the building is damaged,” said a policeman at the scene.

A second blast hit Kano’s Immigration office. There were conflicting reports on the number of bombs, with accounts of between four and 20 blasts.

n January 2, 2012, a purported spokesman for Boko Haram warned that the group would confront soldiers and threatened Christians living in the country’s North.

The threat from the spokesman gave southerners living in the North three days to leave the region just after President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in some local government areas of some hard-hit states.

It also warned military troops that Boko Haram would confront them.

Reacting to the threat, the National Security Adviser, Owoye Azazi, said, “I can assure you the security forces are up to it.”

http://www.punchng.com/news/five-bok, the-red-alert/