NEWS REEL : FRIDAY MORNING HEADLINES...

SENATE DIVIDED OVER JONATHAN'S 1BILLION PROPOSED LOAN FOR TACKLING INSURGENCY IN NIGERIA.

THE Senate yesterday was thrown into rowdy session following the approval of the $1 billion loan request by President Goodluck Jonathan to tackle the ongoing security challenges in the country.
Trouble started when the Chairman, Senate Joint Committee on Finance; and Local and Foreign Debt, Senator Ahmad Makarfi had recommended the approval of the request.
Senator Makarfi’s motion for the loan to be approved was then subjected to debate by senators. It was after the debate that the Senate President, David Mark put it to vote.
Although the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP senators were in the majority, the All Progressives Congress, APC, senators shouted on top of their voices and the Senate President ruled in favour of the yes. His ruling immediately provoked protests from APC senators and it took about five minutes before calm returned to the chamber.

Senator Makarfi’s Committee had stated that from the briefings of relevant stakeholders and documents received, the Joint Committee discovered that helicopters were crucial for decisive victory in the war against terror and that quick victory cannot be accomplished without helicopters.
It also noted that the number of Helicopters in the fleet of the Nigeria Air Force was inadequate for effective deployment due to lack of adequate funds for maintenance.
The Committee further explained that the requested loan was for the procurement of Helicopters, Ships, Armaments and hardware equipment and that the 12 M135 Helicopters being requested for now were appropriate for the nature of the operation and the terrain.
The Committee also informed that Belarus had accepted to give helicopters in installmental payment over a-seven year period, while other hardwares, armaments and equipment would be bought on same terms from other European countries.
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BUILDING COLLAPSE: SOUTH-AFRICAN VICTIM'S FAMILIES SET TO SUE T.B JOSHUA.

Two South Africans who lost relatives when a church hostel in Lagos collapsed have told the BBC they intend to sue the General Overseer of Synagogue Church of All Nations, Pastor Temitope Joshua.

The BBC reported that the two men, who both lost sisters in the collapse, were appealing for more families to come together in bringing a case against the preacher.

At least 115 people, including 84 South Africans, died when the multi-storey building fell down on September 12.

The authorities said it had more floors than its foundation could hold.

On Sunday, Joshua announced plans to travel to South Africa to visit the families of the deceased.

Officials suspect the foundations were not suitable for extra floors to be added to the building

Emergency workers alleged they were prevented from participating in the rescue, only gaining full access to the site on Sunday afternoon. But Joshua had denied these accusations.

“I understand that some families are afraid to take on someone who purports to be God’s messenger and I don’t blame them but I will do this,” Thanduxolo Doro, whose sister died in the Lagos collapse said.

Thanduxolo Doro and Mpho Molebatsi waited at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo airport for days after the collapse for news of their sisters, who had been visiting SCOAN.

Both families had last heard from their relatives hours before the collapse.

“It is not that the building collapsed, rather what was done after the collapse – we didn’t get any news from the church,” Doro, whose sister Vathiswa Madikiza died, told the BBC.

“When I contacted them they wouldn’t tell me anything. We saw reports that emergency workers were denied access initially, access that could have saved lives. The actions of the church after the incident are very telling,” he said.

In an open letter published in South Africa’s Star newspaper, Doro called on more families to sue Joshua.

“I need to do this for her. Even if I stand alone, I am determined to see that something is done,” he told the BBC.

“I understand that some families are afraid to take on someone who purports to be God’s messenger and I don’t blame them but I will do this,” he said.

Doro said he was informed by South African officials about his sister’s death this week,but had to wait for the results of the DNA tests before her body could be repatriated for burial.
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RELEASED CHIBOK GIRL IS PREGNANT!

The abducted “Chibok girl” released on Wednesday is “pregnant and mentally ill,” the National Chairman of Chibok Community Development Association, Dr. Pogu Bitrus, has told TheCable.

Earlier on Thursday, the police revealed that the 20-year-old girl was abandoned by suspected terrorists at Mubi in Adamawa State, from where she was picked up. It also confirmed that she was one of the female pupils of Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, abducted in April by Boko Haram.

However, Bitrus said it was still uncertain if the girl was from Chibok because her name did not correspond with any of the names in the records of the girls that were captured by Boko Haram on April 14.

“I was speaking Kibaku to her, but she did not respond; she was incoherent. She may be having mental issues as a result of trauma,” he said.

Bitrus added that preliminary tests – still not definitive – indicated that the girl is pregnant.

He added, “When she was picked up, she was taken to a clinic, not a standard hospital, and tests were carried out on her.

“From the tests, it was said she is pregnant, but that is still in the speculative domain because a qualified medical doctor has not confirmed that she is pregnant.


“However, we are still trying to establish if really she is from Chibok, because from our sources, the last name of the released girl does not tally with the surname of the person bearing the first name of the released girl captured in our records and whose father is a carpenter at Chibok. So, we are still trying to work out every detail.”
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PRO-FAYOSE THUGS ALLEGEDLY BEATS UP JUDGE IN EKITI.

For the second time in four days, people suspected to be political thugs on Thursday disrupted proceedings at the Ekiti State High Court in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday.

A sitting   judge,   Justice John Adeyeye, was   beaten up   and his suit torn by the thugs.

The record book of the Chief Judge, Justice Ayodeji Daramola, was also torn into pieces by the thugs who also   disrupted proceedings at the state Election Petitions Tribunal.

The tribunal sits on the high court premises in Ado-Ekiti.

The tension in the court forced   Daramola to order the immediate closure of all the state high courts.

It was gathered that Adeyeye, who was presiding over a case that had nothing to do with the last Ekiti governorship election, courted trouble when he called on the Governor-elect, Ayo Fayose, to caution the people following him to the tribunal.

“The people following Fayose were making noise close to the courtroom when the judge came out and saw the governor-elect. He challenged him to control the youths but an argument ensued between them and suddenly some of them who are definitely political thugs descended on him and tore his suit.

‘‘They also tore the record book of the Chief Judge.”

The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Wale Fapohunda and the Chief Registrar of the high court, Obafemi Fasanmi, confirmed the attack on Adeyeye.

Fapohunda, at a news conference alleged that those who carried out the act did it on   Fayose’s instructions, whom he accused of going round the court premises with a large number of supporters.

He said that Adeyeye had accosted Fayose and advised him to desist from moving around with machete-wielding thugs and causing disruption of court proceedings.

According to the commissioner, the advice   led to exchange of hot words which degenerated into the manhandling of the judge.

But Fayose also told journalists that the allegation was not only unfounded, but spurious.

He said, “I am not aware that a judge was beaten. In fact, this is strange to me. Though I visited the Election Petitions Tribunal as a party to a case and I was the only one that was allowed passage by security agents to the tribunal.

“ To the best of my knowledge, the three judges at the tribunal handling the case actually sat.

“How can I order the people to beat up a judge that is handling a case that has   nothing to do with me ? I ask, at   what point was the judge beaten? Is he a member of the tribunal?   I went to the tribunal and not the regular court.

“But I want to point out that a situation whereby judges or judicial officers’ who should be custodians of the law get compromised by politicians, breeds anarchy . The judge handling the suit against my qualification dropped the case because of tension and because he lacks the confidence to continue.

“It would have been better for him to insist that he would try the case based on its merit. It is sad that most of our judges have compromised.

“If you have been defeated in all the 16 Local Government Areas and you now want to come through the window, it won’t be like ice cream party for the APC(All Progressives Congress). I would not be too cheap like that of Segun Oni(a former governor of the state). I am not going to be cheap at all because I was elected by the people.


“I don’t care about what they write about me because I have grown a thick skin. The strategy of the APC will not work. Nobody, no matter how highly placed, would remove me cheaply.”

SIX MINISTERS SET TO LEAVE JONATHAN'S CABINET

At least, six ministers may quit President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet in October as preparations for the 2015 general elections peak.

The affected ministers are expected to resign their appointments in order to pursue their governorship ambitions on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.

As of press time, the ministers who have governorship ambitions in their respective states include Senator Bala Muhammed (Federal Capital Territory), Mr. Labaran Maku (Information), Chief Emeka Wogu (Labour), Mr. Nyesom Wike (State, Education), Dr. Samuel Ortom (State, Trade, Industry and Investment) and Senator Musiliu Obanikoro (State, Defence).

While Muhammed seeks to take over from Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State; Maku intends to replace Governor Tanko Al-Makura of Nassarawa State and therefore win the state currently being ruled by the All Progressives Congress to the PDP while Wogu nurses the ambition of succeeding Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State.

Wike is interested in taking over Rivers State from Governor Rotimi Amaechi; Ortom has his eyes on the seat to be vacated by Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State while Obanikoro also plans to take over Lagos State from Governor Babatunde Fashola and the APC.

The President’s Special Adviser on Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Prof. Sylvester Monye, is also nursing the ambition of becoming the Delta State Governor after Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.

Their imminent resignation is expected to lead to a major shakeup in the Federal Executive Council.

A Presidency source said the ministers’ exit would lead to the constitution of “election cabinet” by the President.
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AUSTRALIAN DONATES N8.7MILION TO FIGHT EBOLA IN NIGERIA.
The Australian Government says it has contributed ₦ 8.7 million to the Nigeria Ebola Virus Emergency Appeal launched by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
A statement issued on Thursday in Abuja by the Australian High Commission in Abuja, said the donation would assist in purchasing vital personal protection equipment for health workers combating the deadly disease.
The Australian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Jonathan Richardson, was quoted as saying that the funds would be used to improve training in epidemic control techniques for Red Cross volunteers.
Richardson also said it would help to spread good messages on health education and hygiene promotion across the country.
The statement by the High Commission explained that the funds came from the country’s Direct Aid Programme, which had already committed seven million dollars to tackle the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

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TB JOSHUA LIED TO US, ZIMBABWEAN VICTIM'S FAMILY CLAIMS.

A DESPERATE Bulawayo woman, Catherine Ndlovu, who allegedly paid thousands of dollars to visit Nigeria, seeking divine intervention for her hospitalised daughter has been reported as one of the  115 people confirmed to have died after the collapse of a church building owned by the pastor, TB Joshua. 

Yesterday, the family of  Ndlovu, 40, accused TB Joshua and his church of giving very little information concerning their sister in the aftermath of the September 12 disaster, including insisting that the mother of two was unharmed and would be returning home alive.
South African Chronicle quoted Ndlovu’s brother Jabulani as saying that, “we called them (TB Joshua church) every day, asking where my sister was and they said she had boarded a plane back to South Africa and would be back last Sunday.
Lying
“We became suspicious when other Zimbabweans who had travelled to Nigeria came back via South Africa and she was not part of the group. It became clear they’d been lying to us and withholding information from us all along.”
Ndlovu became the second Zimbabwean to have allegedly died in the disaster after Greenwich Ndanga, the MDC-T chairman for Mashonaland West, was reported to be among the dead by his family.
At least 84 South Africans were allegedly killed and dozens trapped when the multi-storey guesthouse attached to TB Joshua’s Synagogue Church of All Nations caved in.
However, Joshua claimed it was a conspiracy, insisting that a mysterious plane flew, four times, too close to the structure causing the collapse.